I Won't Believe in Dying to Live
by PrefersFiction
Summary: **Reina's small group is just trying to survive in the new world dominated by walkers. When another collection of survivors stumble onto their land, what will happen? Will they join forces and fight the walkers together or turn them away? Can they learn to trust one another? And of course very eventual OCXDaryl Set mainly after the end of season 2**
1. Prologue

The Walking Dead by Spinnerette

Oh hold the rifle up to my chin  
Your bell rings out, it's deceiving  
The womb is the safest place I've ever been  
So carry me home baby, let me back in

No way

Oh hello psycho, is that you in the mirror again?  
I can't escape the feeling you'll be here till the end  
I've been kissing the grave of a ghost that breathes  
The ghost has an army of thieves and they're coming for me  
Hey yeah

I won't believe in dying to live  
I won't pay for what I do not need  
I want to release  
I want to be free

Bird in a cage  
Eyes to the sky  
Here come the angels  
Singing deaf lullabies  
Crush crystal wings up  
Breathe in and choke back  
Found my misfortune in the mouth of a cat

Who got your tongue girl  
Cut it right out  
Striking a match  
calling them out  
Hey yeah you're mine  
Fruit of thy womb  
Blood of a man  
That cannot save me now  
Only time can

I won't believe in dying to live  
I won't pay for what I do not need  
I want to release  
I want to be free

There is no way out


	2. Chapter 1

_**Readers warning**_**: I know most WD fics are in third person but mine is written in the first person view because well I can't write in third person :P so if you don't like first person writing style then this is probably not for you. Also this fic is OC heavy with the first few chapters about my OC's BUT they will intersect with the WD survivors soon I swear! And the story follows the TV series since I have not read the graphic novels. One last thing, this chapter starts off in the 'present' time in which the story takes place and goes back to when the outbreak started and what happened to my OC's during that time but will link back to the 'present' by about chapter 3. Now since that's out of the way, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with the walking dead (except for my TWD collectors series pint glass set :P), just a big fan of the series.**

Ch.1

**Present**

"You know what I miss most? My IPod." I sighed thinking about that solar powered iPod charger I almost bought. If only I had got it back then, I could be listening to some music right now instead of this depressing game of _remember all those things you loved and now realize how you took them for granted? _This game of listing off things we missed most had unfortunately become a nightly routine, it let everyone take their mind off the present for a small while and reminisce about better days.

"Me? Cheetos." Mac said practically drooling and we all laughed a little. Mac was on the bigger side but thanks to our new diet and lifestyle changes, courtesy of the outbreak of walkers, he was starting to thin out.

"I would kill for a washin' machine and new clothes." We all nodded at Roses addition. All of our clothes had seen better days and hand washing everything took a lot more effort than we thought. How did people live like this before? Our society had become so spoiled with all the new technology that when the walkers took over, it was as if we had all reverted back to the Stone Age over-night. No one knew what to do with themselves and that proved to be just as big of a challenge as the ever increasing number of walkers were.

I stared into the crackling fire, my eyes adjusting to the harsh light. That's the first thing I noticed once civilization had deteriorated, without the electrical grids running and powering the streetlights, the nights had become beyond dark. Our make shift little camp outside the cabin was only slightly illuminated by the light the fire gave off but it was better than the pitch black alternative. All our flashlights and gas torches were being used very sparingly since our supplies seemed to be diminishing at an alarming rate. Soon we would have to make another scavenger trip into the city to replenish them, I cringed at the thought. Our group was small, 3 men and 2 women, and it seemed every time we made a run for supplies we almost lost a person to the walkers. All of us had met up during the epidemic breakout and have stuck together since and I couldn't imagine losing any of them since they had become like family.

**3 Months ago**

I am originally from Seattle but was visiting my grandmother who lived in Georgia, when this all happened. I still feel the guilt every time I think about her. She had sent me to the town's local grocery store to pick up some food since my teenage dirt bag cousin had devoured everything in sight. My grandma just laughed and said he was a growing boy and that he needed his food. So relented and took her list and car and headed up town. On my drive there I noticed there was a lot more activity than usual in this mid-sized place. People were running around frantically and vehicles were speeding around ignoring the traffic lights. Cop cars were everywhere and police were trying to maintain order on the streets.

The parking lot of the local grocery store was over-run with cars and I had to squeeze my grandma's little Taurus into a make shift spot. People were rushing out of the store carrying as much as their arms would hold and some people pushing giant carts full of supplies like toilet paper and water bottles. The inside was no better, it was chaos. The intercom was constantly going off; telling people to remain calm and assuring them there would be enough food and supplies to go around. There was lots of screaming and shoving, I saw a young man push an elderly lady out of the way so he could grab the last milk carton off the shelf. I grabbed what I could that was on the list and made my way to the registers.

The lines were horrendous and soon people were rushing the doors by passing paying completely. The managers and cashiers were yelling for people to get back in line and pay but soon the mob had over taken completely, an eruption of yelling and fighting had begun. I panicked and ran up to the nearest cashier and handed her the money I was carrying (which was more than enough for the groceries) and managed to push and shoulder my way back outside again. The difference between when I had went in and just got out was unbelievable. Alarms were being sounded all over the place and smoke was rising from one of the residential neighborhoods in the distance. I could hear the faint sound of someone screaming in the distance along with the sounds of glass being broken and sirens. This was madness.

I ran to the car and threw myself in. I rushed out of the parking lot heading back down the main road. I had to swerve around people running randomly across the street and slam on my brakes numerous times just to avoid hitting anyone. At that point panic was starting to set in, I was having a hard time believing this was all real. Finally I had reached my grandmother's house and reared the car into the driveway and ripped the keys out of the ignition. I left the supplies in the car and ran for the house. Upon running up the steps to the veranda, I noticed the door was wide open and I froze in horror.

"Grandma?" I shouted as I slowly entered the doorway. I could hear sounds coming from the kitchen and then suddenly a loud bang. Forgetting all about being cautious, I ran as fast as I could to the kitchen, grabbing the baseball bat my cousin had left lying in the hallway along the way. I thought maybe some of the rioters had broken in and were looting the place but once I reached the kitchen I realized I would have been so lucky. I gagged at the sight before me. Blood and skin was everywhere and hunched over was my cousin. Sickening ripping and tearing sounds where coming from underneath him. I slowly moved closer only to realize that my cousin was hunched over my grandma, who was staring lifelessly at nothing.

"Grandma." I sobbed as I slapped the back of my palm to my mouth. My cousin turned his head towards me and I stood stunned. His skin had a bluish tinge to it and was splattered with blood, his eyes clouded. He had skin hanging out of his mouth and started to snarl, blood spitting from his lips. I started to back away and he slowly got up, his limbs cracking and popping as he moved. Earlier in the week the news had reports of people getting sick but nothing like this, nothing that involved people eating people. He came at me faster, picking up a bit of momentum and I raised the bat ready to try to fend him off. Just as he was about to reach me, I heard a loud gunshot ring out from behind me and my cousin dropped to the ground. I whipped around to see my grandmas neighbor John holding a pistol.

"You ok Miss Reina?" He asked as he stepped closer. I just stood there stunned and nodded my head.

"What about your grandmother?" I shook my head and pointed towards the kitchen. John walked to the kitchen and I heard his sharp in-take of breath as he saw what was once my beloved grandmother. He came back and asked what had happened. I explained that I had gone to the grocery store and came back to this.

"If I hadn't gone she might still be alive…..I could have done….something." I said as the tears started to well up in my eyes. John put his hand on my shoulder and said,

"It's not your fault, if you had been here most likely you would be on that floor next to her." I flinched at his words, the guilt eating away at me despite what he said.

"The town has set up an emergency center at the town high school, why don't you go grab your things and we will head over there." John suggested quietly, "Taylor is packing up some things next door too." I nodded numbly and headed upstairs quickly to grab my stuff. Since most it was still in my bags for this trip, it didn't take me to long to throw the rest of my things into my suitcase and backpack.

I sat down on my bed for a moment to sort out my racing thoughts. My grandma was dead, my cousin was dead, what now? Was this the sickness that the news had been taking about? No way, they would have warned us about this right? It seemed like yesterday everything was normal, how did this happen so fast? I was just with them two hours ago; does that mean I have it? I jumped up frightened at the thought and looked in the mirror. My face looked normal, nothing like my cousin's did. I didn't have time to continue my inspection because John burst in to the room to help me with my things. He carried my suitcase down the stairs and outside to his truck while I followed behind with my backpack flung over my shoulder and the baseball bat.

"Good idea." John said as he nodded towards the bat in my hand.

"I thought I should have some sort of weapon." I shrugged as I looked down at the bat. Taylor was already at loading the truck up when we reached it; he turned and smiled at me. I gave him as much of a smile back as I could muster.

"I heard the gunshot, I'm glad you're ok." Taylor said taking my backpack from me, "is your grandma….." he trailed off when he saw John shaking his head.

"I'm so sorry." Taylor said as he put his arm around my shoulders. I must have been in shock because at this point I couldn't feel anything, I was just numb. We loaded the rest of the gear and supplies into John's truck and headed off towards the high school.

I stared out the window as we passed the chaos. Everywhere glass and buildings were broken, bodies were lying in the streets and some of the 'sick' were staggering around or picking at the dead bodies. It was one thing to see this all in a movie or video game but in reality it was much more horrific. John had to speed up as the walkers started to bang and grope at the sides of the truck and even hit a few along the way. The walkers were no match for the grill on his giant F-150, the sound of bones crunching at the impact was sickening. As we approached the school we could see that the police had put up a chain-link fence and set up a perimeter. They checked the truck to make sure no one was infected and then directed us to the parking lot.

We brought some of our supplies inside and were ushered to the gym where all the others were. I recognized a few faces from around town but since I was not from here I didn't really know anyone except John and his son, Taylor. We set down our stuff and settled into the area allotted to us. I sat down on a cot and looked around. All around us people had the same look of shock and horror on their face, parents were trying to comfort their children, people were sobbing and some just sitting staring at nothing.

"Guys I'm gunna go ask around for some info." John said as he got up and headed towards the police stationed at the entrance.

"Man I can't believe this is really happening, I mean this sort of stuff belongs in the movies." Taylor said as he shook his head.

"I don't think anyone can believe it." I replied, "What do you think is going to happen now?"

"Well maybe their hopin' we can all last in here until the military or someone shows up to clear out the town." Taylor suggested.

"God I hope so." We talked some more until the police inside announced that they were going to turn on the radio broadcast over the PA system so that everybody could hear the news.

"Everyone please quiet down, we are turning on the radio broadcast now." A voice said over the PA system and the room fell silent. The recording started to play:

_The President has declared a state of emergency, we advise all citizens to stay inside their homes and avoid all contact with the infected. Emergency teams have been sent to the major cities to deal with the situation and will span out to rural places soon. If an infected is spotted please call the local law enforcement and do not engage the infected, we repeat do not engage the infected. If an emergency shelter has been put up in your community, you should get there immediately. Again avoid all contact with the infected and…_

The recording cut out and all that was left playing was the hiss of the radio frequency. Then suddenly the lights went out and people started screaming and running around in the gym.

"People! Please do not panic we have everything under control. We are working on getting the back-up generator running right now," announced a policeman from his megaphone. I was knocked from behind as a man shoved his way through the people and managed to catch myself before I hit the ground.

"Are you all right?" Taylor asked as he bent down to make sure I was ok.

"Yeah, some panicking jackass just bumped into me," I said as I massaged my shoulder where the man ran into me. The dim lights from the back-up generator came on and people started to settle back down. Through the muted light I could see John making his way back to us.

"Did you find out anything?" Taylor and I both asked.

"They could only tell me so much since communications went down but apparently this thing is country wide, if not global." John calmly stated, "Places with millions of people, like Atlanta, were hit the fastest since they have such a large population. They advise against going into any major cities and say we should stay in the more rural areas since the infected won't be as many." He took a deep breath.

"Well what do you think we should do pop?" Taylor asked. I suddenly felt very glad that I was with John; his military background would come in extremely handy. John looked at Taylor and I then said,

"I think we should get out of here. Gather supplies and head out to some place we can set up fort without all these people. We are just sitting ducks in this place if something happens. With all these people in this small area, someone is bound to be infected and start infecting other folks." Just then the full power came back on again and everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Where would we go?" I asked, I really wanted to head back home to my family but if the info John found out was true then Seattle was most likely already gone. I gulped and tried hard to not think of my family so I could keep it together.

"I'm not a hundred percent on that darlin," John replied, "But as soon as morning comes we should pack up and head out. Our family has an old hunting cabin about three hours west of here, solar powered amenities and a well for water. It has barbed wire fence running along the property and maybe we can set up some sort of alarm system. I think going there would be a good start. We will need to stop on our way out there though and get some more guns and ammo as well as any other supplies we can get our hands on." Both Taylor and I nodded in agreement.

"We will also need to get lots of gas canisters so we can stock up on gas as well," Taylor added.

"We should get lots of medicine and first aid treatment too." I said. They both nodded.

"Ok guys, try and get some sleep tonight because tomorrow is going to be a long day." John said as he sat down on his cot. I went back to mine and laid down. I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep but all I kept seeing was the image of my grandma lying bloody on the kitchen floor. Though soon enough the exhaustion from the day started to set in and I finally was able to fall into a dreamless sleep, despite the noise in the gym.

**Thanks for reading, please review!**


	3. Chapter 2

Ch.2

I was suddenly forced awake by the shrill screaming of a lady from the other side of the gym. I sat upright quickly, my head spinning from the sudden change in altitude.

"Taylor, Reina grab your packs and hurry for the exit! If we get separated we will meet up at the truck!" John yelled over the flurry of voices and screaming. I couldn't see what was going on but there was a bunch of movement at the other side of the gym and suddenly people were running towards our side of gym. I hoisted my backpack onto my back and looked at Taylor. He already had his on too and pointed towards the set of doors behind us. I nodded and all three of us ran towards the doors when a gunshot rang out in the enclosed space causing us to stop and duck, covering our still ringing ears. That caused the mob of people to run even faster and if we didn't hurry soon we would be trampled by them. John regained his composure first and got to the doors and flung them open.

"Hurry!" He yelled and motioned at us. Both Taylor and I bolted towards the doors and continued down the hallway, the crowd of people on our heels. I saw the infected man first and yelled at John. The walker was blocking the exit doors and slowly stumbling towards us. If we stopped the crowd would run us over but if we continued we would run straight into him. Without missing a beat, John whipped out his Colt pistol and fired at the approaching walker while we still ran. Amazingly, John hit him right between the eyes and the figure slumped to the ground. I raised my eyebrows in awe of his shot and he just nodded and we kept running.

We finally reached the doors and spilled out onto the pavement but kept running towards where the vehicles were parked. The sun was still rising but you could see well enough. We reached the truck as John unlocked it remotely and threw ourselves inside. John fired up the engine and ripped out before the parking lot became a sea of frantic drivers. I finally managed to catch my breath wishing I had spent more time working on my cardio.

"You two alright?" John said still trying to calm his breathing.

"Yeah," Both Taylor and I responded shakily. We managed to get out of the school parking lot via the curb since people where darting all over the place and made it next to impossible to navigate through without hitting someone. Some big guy jumped out in front of the truck and John slammed on his breaks as I flew face first into the back of passenger seat.

"Jesus Christ!" John yelled as he rolled down the window, "What hell do you think you're doing son?" The larger man ran up to John's window.

"I need a ride outta here man," He pleaded, "Please let me go with you." John looked perplexed as he thought it over and then relented, his kind nature taking over.

"Get in," He said pointing towards the back doors. The man climbed in and we took off again.

"Hi, I'm Mac," He said smiling at all of us as he placed his pack down on the floor.

"I'm Reina, this is John and Taylor," I introduced us, "Need to be anywhere specific?"

"Nope, where ever you guys are going is fine with me," Mac said with a lopsided grin, "Definitely beats being back in there."

"Did you see what happened?" Taylor asked turning around to face us.

"Some lady just up and started biting people," Mac gulped, "It was disgusting. I could even see her _chewing_. One of the policemen on guard took a shot at her but she never even went down. She just kept attacking everything around her."

"Headshots seem to be the only thing that keeps em down," John stated, his eyes still glued to the road. Mac continued on,

"Then soon everyone was running, trying to get away and well that's how everyone started to crowd towards the back of the gym trying to head out those doors. I saw that shot you made," Mac sounded impressed as I was, "You military or something?"

"Ex-military," John answered.

"Damn, well I'm glad you guys picked me up, although I'm not too bad a shot myself," Mac smiled and I smile slightly in response, "Where are you guys heading?"

"John has a hunting cabin west of here and we thought that would be the best place to start," I replied, "But we need to gather some supplies up first."

"Well I heard about that new gun and ammo store you guys have, Wilson and Green's; it's just on the outskirts of the west side of town," Mac suggested, "We could stop there for supplies since it's not really in town and most likely hasn't been picked over yet."

"Hmm I know where that is, about ten minutes down 53rd street," John said as he roared around a corner, "Good idea."

"Glad I could help," Mac grinned. We kept talking all the way there, turns out Mac was visiting from out of town too when this all happened and didn't really have anywhere to go to either. He seemed nice enough, kind of goofy despite all that has happened and he was a hard guy not to like. About ten minutes later we arrived at the store, right where Mac said it would be.

"Looks like there's been no damage to it, that's a good sign," Mac said looking out the window.

"I'm going to go in first and scope out the place before we all march in there to make sure it's safe," John said getting out the driver's door, his gun in hand.

"I don't think you should go in there by yourself," I suggested.

"I'll go with you," Taylor said grabbing a gun that I hadn't realized he had been carrying. Mac and I watched from the back seat as they made their way into the store. The door wasn't locked and they got in easy enough.

"I wish they hadn't taken all the weapons with them," Mac said, "Kind of leaves us helpless out here." I looked at him and grinned,

"Well not completely." I held up my bat and Mac laughed,

"Guess that's better than nothing."

A few minutes later, John poked his head out of the door and signaled for us to come in. Mac and I got out of the truck, careful not to slam the doors and made our way inside. Mac had been right about this place not being touched; guns and all sort of weapons were still lining the walls.

"Grab as much as you can and we will meet back at the entrance in twenty minutes ok?" John said looking around making sure we all agreed. I made a straight b-line over to the bag section and grabbed the biggest duffle bag I could find.

I had never been so happy for all those times my Dad had taken me hunting with him, teaching me shoot and use weapons. I had always enjoyed our time we spent together, him teaching me to defend myself with and without weapons. Not wanting to sound too smug but I had gotten pretty good over the years. I still remember the one summer we went north of the border into B.C and I had just taken down a huge elk with my hunting rifle when my father whistled and said with pride, "Damn that guy must have been about 700 pounds! That's my girl!" I smiled at the memory and then had to stamp down the growing emotion that can with it, not wanting to lose focus.

I quickly found the rifle section and started to sort through and pick out the one I wanted. I saw the sleek black Blaser R8 professional rifle among them and knew that was the one I wanted. Once I checked it over, I then went around the display case to the wall and picked out as many boxes of the caliber size I needed for the rifle and stuffed everything into the bag.

"You hunt?" Taylor said, kind of startling me.

"Yeah, my Dad used to take me on his hunting trips and once I got old enough he taught me how to shoot and use the weapons and stuff," I said.

"Funny, I just don't quite see you as the type; you seem more of a city girl," Taylor smiled, "No offense or anything." He added quickly. I laughed,

"Yeah I get that reaction a lot. I'll have you know I'm a pretty damn good shot if I do say so myself." I smirked and Taylor replied still smiling,

"I'll be the judge of that but I'm glad to hear it. Guess I won't have to worry about friendly fire from you then."

"Well there are no guarantees, I can't help it if _you_ run into the line of fire," I said and we laughed a little. I then moved on and picked out a shotgun and the matching shells, I had only used one once and it had knocked me onto my ass so I had stayed clear of them since then. I could still feel my tail bone screaming at me as I had tried to sit down later that night. Dad had snickered at me as I sat gingerly down on our sofa and then Mom started to yell at him again over me using guns and I just stuck my tongue out at him from my perch on the couch.

I shook my head to dispel my thoughts and then moved onto the pistols where John was standing. He smiled at me as I approached and nodded his head at the bag on my shoulder, "Almost got your bag filled up?"

"Just need some pistols, any recommendations?" I asked looking down at the display. He picked up a pair of matching black pistols and handed them to me,

"These are Beretta 9mm's, used by the military and police officers and a great long range pistol plus they fit into most gun holsters and they even have attachable silencers." I nodded as I took the guns, testing one out in my hands seeing how it felt.

"Any idea where those silencers would be in here?" I asked as I gathered as much ammo for the pistols as I could fit into my now extremely heavy bag. John went digging through the display drawers and finally seemed to find what he was looking for and handed me two plain black metal tubes.

"Thanks," I said adding them to my collection that no doubt would have gotten me arrested a few days ago. I found the holsters nearby and squished them into the bag as well. Soon we were back at the front door, all of us toting giant over stuffed duffels full of weapons.

"This is like a scene straight out of a Stallone movie," Mac commented and we laughed at the absurdity of all of this.

"Everybody got what they want?" John asked repositioning his bag strap on his arm. Then there was the un-mistakable sound of a gun being cocked and we all turned around to the sight of a small Hispanic woman, I would guess her to be in her thirties, pointing a revolver right at us.

"You have any idea of how much all those guns and ammo yall took are worth?" She asked still pointing the pistol. John took a step forward and she aimed the gun at him, he quickly put up his hands in an 'I mean you no harm' gesture.

"Now I'm sure we all can work something out without anyone gettin shot," He said his eye still on the gunned she had trained on him.

"Well I'm assuming yall don't have the thousands of dollars on you," She retorted back, "As it turns out I need a ride and I'd be willing to let you have those guns if yall gave me a lift to Atlanta."

"I think that's fair," John said calmly as he lowered his hands. The woman followed suit and lowered her gun. I let out my breath I hadn't realized I had been holding, the blood pumping loudly in my ears. Looks like the infected weren't the only danger around.

"I'm John, this is my son Taylor and our friends Reina and Mac," He said trying to be civil.

"You can call me Rose," She replied as she nodded at us in greeting, "Sorry bout that but we all gotta be really careful now."

"Hey no harm, no foul," John said kindly, "But a word of warning, I heard from the police stationed at the school shelter that the big cities were hit the worst and covered with infected. They suggested staying in rural areas and avoiding the cities. We were heading west to my hunting cabin, its bout three hours from here; you are welcome to come with us." Rose let what John just said sink in and finally replied,

"You sure? How do I know I can trust yall?" Rose asked and it was a fair question.

"A southern gentleman never lies," John smiled and Rose rolled her eyes.

"Yeah I've heard that before," she sighed, "Alright can yall give me a minute to grab my things in the back?" John nodded and Rose took off into the back.

"How do you know we can trust her? She's the one that just pulled a gun on us!" Taylor hissed.

"We don't really have a choice son, after all we didn't give her any cash for the guns," John said back.

"I don't think that really matters anymore," I added.

"Good thing, cause I only have my credit cards with me," Mac sighed. Soon Rose was back with her bags in tow and we headed back out to the truck. Once we secured all our bags in the back, we jumped back in but this time it was more crowded with every seat taken up.

"You know where the nearest gas station is?" John turned around and asked Rose.

"There's a gas station and a small grocery store just down that street," She pointed to the one to our left.

"Alright were going to stop there and pick up what we can then head out so it's not dark when we arrive at the cabin." John said as he started up the truck and started down the left street. As we left the gun store parking lot I wondered where all the people were, there was not even any infected around here. I guess the outskirts of town had been almost abandoned as people moved inward to town for the stores and the high school shelter.

We made it to our last stop in less than five minutes with John's driving; he didn't drive like an old guy that's for sure.

"Ok guys, Mac and I will grab the gas, Reina, Taylor and Rose you guys go into the store and grab all the supplies you can. When Mac and I are done, we'll come see how you guys are doin." John dictated and we all nodded, "Make it as quick as you can and bring one of your," he looked at Rose, "newly acquired weapons to be on the safe side." I grabbed one of the pistols and tried unsuccessfully to attach one of the silencers to it.

"Here darlin let me do that," Rose said as she took the parts from me and put them together with practiced ease.

"You make it look so easy," I smiled at her as I took the piece back.

"Well I have been around guns a _few_ times," She smirked. I pushed one of the full clips into the gun and jumped out, Rose right behind me. The three of us took off from the gas station towards the grocery store at the other side of the parking lot. Once we reached the doors they didn't open so we had to pull them apart.

"Doesn't look too bad in here, we might be able to find something," I said thinking back to the chaos at the grocery store I had went to in town the day before.

"I'll grab non-perishables and water," Taylor said.

"I got the first aid and medicine," I added and Rose said she'd get all the hygiene and general items we'd need. I took off towards the pharmacy after I found some reusable bags we could use to carry everything and handed them around. I rounded the isle corner and ran straight into the body of an infected, the force knocking me to the ground and it as well. My gun fell from my hand and skidded away as I hit the hard floor. I panicked and felt around for my gun keeping my eyes on the infected that was slowly getting up towards me. I had no choice but to turn my back on it as I scrambled to find the pistol, it had been knocked further back so I had to leap up to run for it.

By the time I picked it and whirled around aiming at the infected, it had already made its way closer, making gurgled moaning sounds as it stumbled closer. I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger as I let the breath out, just like I had been taught to. The bullet lodged itself in the infected's shoulder spinning him around and back to the ground. But slowly it started to crawl back towards me, not even fazed by the bullet and then I remember what John had said, that a bullet to the head was the only way to really take them down. Unfortunately that meant a smaller target to hit and it didn't help that the thing was still moving. I let it get a bit closer then took aim and the shot rang true. Its head whipping back from the impact and then it slumped fully to the ground and lay still. I stood for a few seconds reeling from what just happened and then I heard hurried footsteps behind me.

"Reina!" It was Taylor, "You alright?" He said rushing over to me and then looking down at the infected on the ground.

"Yeah, the thing didn't get a chance to get me," I said, my voice still a little shaky.

"Damn, you weren't kidding when you said you could shoot," Taylor smiled at me and despite what just happened I smiled back. Rose then showed up looking at the infected and grinned,

"Well at least yall ain't wastin my ammo."

We then decided to do a quick once over in the store together to make sure no other infected were roaming around and then went back to our tasks. After about twenty minutes John and Mac came in and we carried out all the supplies we had gathered.

"So you ran into one of them in there?" Mac asked, "I'm glad you brought something better than bat."

"Me too," I replied as I threw my last sack of stuff into the back. John re-secured everything in the back, which now was a huge pile of stuff. We all climbed into the truck and took off towards the cabin. I turned around to get one last look at the town as we sped further away; from where we were it didn't look any different, giving no hint as to the madness that laid inside.

**Please review and yes the WD survivors will be making an appearance soon :)**


	4. Chapter 3

**By the end of this chapter, the story will fall back into the present time line.**

Ch.3

After about hour two of the drive and the further we went into the rural landscape, I noticed less and less people and other vehicles on the road. I took that as a good sign, less people meant less infected right?

"Anyone else notice the lack of, well anything moving out here?" Mac voiced my earlier thoughts.

"Well son this is a pretty rural area to begin with, which is why I thought goin out here would be best," To emphasize John's words, the truck turned off the highway down a gravel road indicating just how far out of the city we had come.

"I hate to be _that_ guy but how much longer till we get to the cabin?" I asked.

"Bout an hour or so," Taylor replied. The rest of the way we all road in silence, all lost to our own thoughts as we watched the gravel kick up all around us as we roared down the road. I could only guess but I bet everyone had the same question on their mind; what now? I sat back against the seat watching the trees flying by creating a constant streak of green. Well at least we will be well hidden out here and the since this was a hunting cabin, the food supply might actually be decent. I even spotted a dear bounding in the ditch as we passed it. Soon we turned off the gravel road onto a warn dirt path. It lead up to a swinging gate attached to the barbed wire fence that ran out from both sides.

"Were here," John simply stated as he got out of the truck to open up the gate. The trail lasted about a quarter of a mile and then lead up to the rustic but well maintained cabin.

"Almost feels like were on a retreat," Mac grinned, "Although I was never much of a camper."

"Me neither, I liked the hunting but not the sleeping in a tent part, been eaten alive by bugs," I had to agree with Mac.

"Bein' eaten by bugs sure beats bein' eaten by people," Rose said bluntly as she got out of the truck.

"Well that was morbid," Mac laughed awkwardly.

"I can just tell she's a glass half full person," I said and we laughed.

We all got busy unloading everything and started taking things in. The cabin was a decent size; it had two bedrooms, a living room area with a wood fire place and the attached kitchen area. As far as appliances went there was a stove, a fridge, a stainless steel meat smoker and believe it or not a small bathroom with a flush toilet, sink and small shower. All of the appliances were running via the solar power panels that covered the roof of the cabin and the water ran from the well they had made out back. It was very self-efficient; however John did have a gas powered generator as back up for emergencies.

"I dibs sleeping in one of the rooms," I said not waiting for a reply before I threw my backpack and suitcase inside one of the rooms.

"I guess I'll be sharin with ya," Rose said as she placed her stuff in the same room.

"Me and pop will take the other room," Taylor said as he passed by carrying numerous bags.

"Hey what about me?" Mac asked.

"We have a tent around here somewhere," John said and at Mac's horrified face he started to laugh, "Just kiddin son, the couch is a pull out."

"Thank god!" Mac said plopping down on his new bed; the musty couch. Unloading the rest of the stuff we wanted inside took almost an hour and when we were all done we sat around the living area.

"Sooo, I'm guessing it's too much to hope for that there is a washing machine hidden somewhere?" I asked.

"Yep that would be awfully convenient wouldn't it?" Taylor joked.

"I have a wash board stored somewhere in here," John said and I groaned at that.

"TV?" Mac asked hope lacing his voice.

"Nope, came out here to get away from all that," John replied as he stretched out his legs.

"So what are we goin to do for settin up a perimeter or warnin system round here?" Rose asked concerned.

"Well there is a barbed wire fence, that we just replaced in the last two years, that runs the property," John replied, "Since there is only five of us, having nightly watches and shifts probably won't work out too well…" He trailed off thinking.

"Well we could board up the door and windows at night to fortify the cabin and plus the immediate area around the cabin has been cleared of most trees so we have a good view into the distance making it hard for one of those things to get close without being noticed," I suggested and John nodded. I was sure that if something tried to get in during the night that someone would hear it and warn everyone, most likely it would be me since I was a light sleeper.

"So we all sleep with our guns under our pillows then?" Mac said sarcastically.

"You gotta better idea?" Taylor looked at Mac.

"Well not at the moment," Mac shrugged.

**Three Weeks Later**

After we all had settled into a rough routine, it was interrupted by our first walker on the property. Taylor had spotted it when he did his round along the fence line.

"Guys," The walkie-talkie we had hissed. I got to it first.

"Taylor what's up?"

"I have an infected here," His voice rang out and we all froze whatever we were doing. John grabbed the walkie from my hand,

"Taylor which marker are you by?"

"About the 3rd marker,"

"What's the walker doing?"

"He's stuck on the other side of the fence, he can't get over,"

"Don't do anything unless you have to. Wait for us and we will be there in a minute."

The camp was a flurry of activity as we all sprang into action. I grabbed my Beretta with the silencer attached and followed John who was now running towards the south end of the property. I spotted Taylor, he was standing a good meter from the snapping and reaching infected caught in the barbed wire. The walker was wearing the remnants of a hunter's outfit, the camouflage vest and pants were ripped and dirty. Clearly it had been out in the woods for a while after the infection hit, in addition to the wrecked clothes, its face was ashen and sunken in, all bones and angles.

"Jesus," I said through heavy breaths. John, Rose and I had arrived but Mac was still a bit behind us. I had to laugh at him; he looked like a lunatic waving his arms and yelling,

"Don't you _dare_ do anything before I get there!"

"Hurry or your gunna miss the good stuff!" I yelled back taunting him and he managed to pick up his pace and finally reach us.

"That movie Zombieland wasn't kidding when they said cardio was rule number one," Mac huffed as he reached us.

"Well for obvious reasons the fatties were the first to go," I grinned as I quoted the movie.

"Oh ha ha, hey I've lost some weight since all this," Mac grinned back knowing I was just making a joke.

"Yall done?" Rose glared at us and we all turned towards the infected.

"Just shoot it in the head." I stated.

"Then do what with the body?" Taylor added.

"Burn it." John said and I cringed at that. There was no way that would smell good.

"Bury it." Rose said.

"I vote Rose's idea." I said and Mac nodded fervently in agreement.

In the following couple of months we had repeats of walkers but nothing serious, always one at a time and sometimes it would be weeks before we saw another one. The only time we really came across them was when we went hunting in the surrounding woods. We would always go in groups of two, carrying supplies to eat and drink and for helping carrying back whatever we caught and obviously weapons. Every week or two we would catch a deer bringing it back by tying its feet to a thin log and carrying in between each other. It was very _caveman-esque_ but it worked, although I hated that part the most. The meat smoker would preserve the meat so it lasted longer and in my opinion made it taste better.

In addition to our hunting excursions we would also make trips back into the surrounding cities and towns for supplies. Those trips always were much more stressful because it meant more infected to deal with, so we tried not to do them until it was absolutely necessary. Every time we did, I was still shocked anew at the abandoned state of the cities and towns, I half expected the bustle of city life but it never was like that, just desolation. We ran into people from time to time while in the cities but always went our separate ways. There were no more radio signals or anything; it was as if civilization had been wiped out except for a few groups of survivors here and there. It was a depressing thought.

**Present**

"I miss watching football while drinking a cold beer," Taylor said looking wistfully into the fire.

"What about you John?" Mac asked noticing John hadn't said anything.

"Honestly, I don't miss too much. This is where I came to get away from everything," John said stretching in his lawn chair.

"Really?" Mac sounded incredulous.

"Ok well maybe I miss havin a proper meal, a nice juicy steak and a cold glass of whisky," He laughed. I almost drooled at the thought of steak; you could only eat so much wild meat. I looked up into the night sky and out of the corner of my eye something caught my attention.

"What the…" I trailed off. Everyone looked at me and then to where I was staring. Off into the distance, quite a way from where we were situated, there was a big cloud of smoke coming from the tip of the tall flames. We all stood up to get a better look.

"A forest fire?! As if life wasn't difficult enough as it is!" Mac exclaimed.

"That's no forest fire son," John replied cryptically.

"Then what the hell is that then?" I asked confused. It was far enough into the distance that the fire posed no danger to the cabin but it was still worrying.

"Someone must have started that fire judgin from the flames height and the smoke, nothin but farm land out that way though. It's more than likely a barn or somthin that caught on fire," John said peering into his binoculars.

"How can ya see anythin with those?" Rose asked.

"They are night vision capable."

"What are we gunna do?" Taylor asked.

"There's nothin we can do. The fire will probably die down by morning." John said, how he knows this I have no idea.

"Well that's comforting," Mac muttered sarcastically.

"We can't just call the fire department now can we," I said equally as sarcastic back to him.

"The walkers sure didn't start that, so who did?" Taylor asked and to that no one had answer, at least not one we wanted to voice out loud.

"I'll stay up a bit longer and keep an eye on it just to be sure. You guys go to bed, don't forget about your hunting trip tomorrow," John suggested. Taylor and I were getting up early to leave for hunting tomorrow since our supply of meat had almost ran out and the mornings were when the most game was out. I was not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination but I was slowly getting used to it but still hated getting up _that_ early. We kicked out the fire and headed off to try to sleep, the smoke and fire in the distance all still in the back of our minds.

**Oh I wonder what could that be? Duh-duh-duuuuhhhh! **

**So what do you think so far? I'd love to hear from readers :)**


	5. Chapter 4

Ch. 4

**Note: The line separating the text means a change in POV to Daryl's.**

After being out in these woods, getting eaten by bugs for hours, it was now noon and the sun somehow still managed to penetrate the thick brush. The sun bore down on us as we tracked this deer we had spotted a half an hour ago though the bush, I could already feel the slight sunburn on my nose and shoulders. My satchel that had my supplies now hung around my shoulders like it was filed with freaking rocks and my arms were stiff from lugging the rifle.

"You gunna try to keep up?" Taylor growled from a few feet ahead of me.

"Do not start with me country boy, I'm in no mood for it," I hissed back. The exhaustion and heat had started to get to us and for the last hour have been at each other's throats. He just turned back around angrily and started to stalk off a bit faster. Now he was just trying to piss me off. The deer we had been following suddenly darted off to our right and stopped at a miniature pond or some sort of small puddle looking thing. We both stopped dead in our tracks, hardly daring to breathe. Taylor looked at me and I nodded. As much of an ass as he was being, Taylor knew I was better with a rifle than he was, letting me take the shot.

I lifted the rifle to eye level and brought the butt of the rifle to my right shoulder slowly so that I didn't make any noise to startle the deer. I moved my legs into position, lifting my right leg further back for support and to help settle my hand. I inhaled deeply through my mouth, curled my finger around the trigger and as I let out my breath I squeezed the trigger. The force of the rifle being shot was mostly absorbed through my stance and I was only jarred slightly. The sound of firing the rifle was really loud but luckily we were in the lower part of the forest and the sound carried for some distance making it more difficult for anyone or anything to pin point exactly where it came from. The deer dropped and I let out a sigh of relief that I didn't miss despite my tiredness.

"Nice shot," Taylor mumbled as he walked down to where the deer was. I nodded at his comment as I lowered my rifle. I was about to head down to help when I heard the sound of twigs and leaves crunching behind me. I whirled around, aiming my rifle, expecting a walker. Instead I had my rifle trained on a scruffy blond man in dirty cut off sleeves and ripped jeans, aiming his crossbow right at me.

"Ya even know how ta use that thing girl?" He patronized with his thick southern accent.

"Nope. Haven't you heard? Hunting chic is totally in this season." I replied laced with sarcasm as I lowered and swung the rifle strap back onto my shoulder. He just narrowed his eyes at me and lowered his crossbow. I was too tired from the day of lugging this gun around tracking that deer to deal with this chauvinistic shit.

"Who are you?" Taylors asked suddenly right beside me, his gun at the ready. After a second the guy answered,

"Daryl, how about yall?" Cocking his head in our direction.

"Reina and this is Taylor," I said pointing my thumb at him beside me.

"Yall shot my deer," Daryl said irritation lacing his voice.

"Your deer?!" Taylor scoffed.

"_Yall_ nothing, I was the one who shot the deer," I sneered back. There was no way he was getting it after all that we put into the hunt. He looked pointedly at me.

"Yall with that cabin back there?" He drawled. Taylor took a step forward and I grabbed his arm.

"How do you know about the cabin?" Taylor asked angrily, obviously upset at the thought that something might have happened.

"My group stumbled upon yall as we were lookin for shelter. Our previous place went up in smoke last night," Daryl answered back affronted at Taylor's anger.

"So that bon fire last night was you guys?" I asked thinking back to the flames and smoke we spotted yesterday. He glared at me; perhaps I hadn't put that the most delicately.

"That _bon fire_," He sneered, "Was the barn on the farm we all were stayin on. We got over run with walkers and had to leave right then. That guy back there said we all could stay at yer camp for a while." I raised my eyebrows at that; John said god knows how many people could stay?

"No way pop would let yall stay, taking our resources," Taylor said just as unbelieving as I was.

"How many in your group?" I asked civilly, sending Taylor a look telling him to shut his big mouth.

"Bout ten or so. Got woman and children too in case yall was wonderin. I was coming out here hopin to catch some sumthin to bring back," Daryl drawled looking around at the deer lying on the ground and I noticed the squirrels he had strung up about his person.

I don't know if it was my exhaustion, my bad habit of laughing when I shouldn't, the heat or just that the guy standing in front of us was just such a hillbilly but something inside me cracked and I burst out laughing. I could see Taylor looking beside me like I had lost my mind and I had to grab my sides I was laughing so hard. And I had thought that Taylor was so country, this guy arguing over our deer was just such…..a redneck.

"To hell with yall." He spat angrily seemingly offended at my laughter, as he turned around and walked away.

"Way to go city girl, he could have helped us take the deer back!" Taylor yelled as he threw his arms in the air in frustration. I finally calmed down and started to feel guilty about my outburst. Taylor was right; I was being prejudice.

"Whatever let's just get this over with," I grumbled heading down to the deer; apparently my meeting new people skills needed practice.

* * *

Who does that stupid city cooze think she is laughin at me? That's what you get when dealin with her type. When I first spotted her with her rifle aimed at me, I was surprised at what a looker she was. Her hair was a dark brown color and was tied up in a ponytail with some wavy strands coming loose. She had intense grey eyes, cute nose and full lips. The bridge of her nose had been burnt slightly revealing a spray of freckles. The tank top and shorts she was wearin accentuated her lean figure and long legs and the satchel strap came down between her breasts makin the tank top cling to the full cups. I was quite impressed until she opened her big mouth that is, with not a hint of a southern accent anywhere. She was just like all the other condescendin city bitches out there. I smiled vindictively knowing I had left them to lug that deer back themselves, serves her right.

* * *

It took almost two hours before we reached the cabin with the deer in tow. I was so sore I almost screamed in relief as I spotted the camp area.

"You always come back with a deer," Mac pouted referring to his numerous unsuccessful hunting trips.

"Well you know what this means, we caught you clean," I said as Taylor and I lowered the deer to the ground near our 'cleaning area'.

"Ugh," Mac whined, "I always have to clean it."

"That's cause ya useless when huntin," Rose said kicking Mac while he was down and he glared at her.

"Chop chop," Taylor grinned massaging his shoulder. John handed me a water bottle and I practically downed it then collapsed into a lawn chair. I looked up and noticed the faces of the strangers staring at me. Feeling awkward, I cleared my throat,

"Uh John?"

"Right," John looked at my apologetically, "Guys this is Reina and my son Taylor," He introduced us and then everyone introduced themselves.

"You shot that deer?" The wide eyed kid named Carl asked.

"You bet," I managed to smile.

"Cool, all we've had lately's been squirrel," Carl made a face and I choked on my water as I laughed remembering Daryl in the woods. I noticed him off to the side scowl at my reaction. Well no love lost there.

"We haven't gotten to that point yet," Mac pulled a face similar to the one Carl just made.

"It's better than nothin Carl," His dad Rick said and Carl looked down at the ground, "Your friend John said we could stay here for a bit till we got our bearings and all."

"Did you guys bring anything with you?" I asked Rick; clearly he was the leader of the group.

"Just a couple of vehicles and weapons," He replied, "We kinda had to make a quick getta way."

"So I heard." They all looked confused at my statement, "We ran into your hunter friend in the woods." I clarified nodding at Daryl. He just grunted lightly in response going back to whatever he was doing. Rick raised an eyebrow at that but didn't say anything.

"I have a few supplies in my RV," The older man named Dale said.

"Don't worry, we will figure something out," John smiled. Sometimes he was to kind for his own good, he was lucky that letting Mac and Rose come with us had worked out so well, it might not with all these people though. I frowned at that. Our supplies were already stretched between the five of us, what were we going to do with eleven more people? The oldest man must have noticed my face because he spoke up,

"Don't yall worry, we will pull our weight round here. I noticed ya have a small garden in the back, I can help ya care for it. I live," Hershel swallowed, "used to live on a farm." Everyone looked particularly sad at that comment and I couldn't help but feel sorry for what they had been through.

"Don't worry," I sighed, "It's not my call anyways, it's John's cabin." Some of them smiled and the others nodded.

"Guess we best get somethin worked out," John said standing up and we all got to work.

By supper time a few tents, the RV and other vehicles had been set up all over the camp and the sleep arrangements had been made. Mac had finally cleaned out and prepared the deer with the help of Rose. At least Mac had gotten over his gagging habit, I smiled at that. The first time he had to cut into and clean out a deer, he gagged and subsequently threw up. We still tease him about it. Eventually we were all situated around the fire, eating the cooked deer and some canned beans and vegetables and everyone was being pretty quiet.

"So you get many geeks around here?" Glenn asked trying to make conversation.

"Geeks?" I asked looking up from my food.

"That's what we call the infected," Glenn grinned.

"Hey! I resent that." Mac said and everyone laughed helping to dispel some of the awkwardness.

"Don't tell me you were one of those nerds who played dungeons and dragons in their parent's basement all day," I teased him.

"Ok I wasn't _that _bad," He rolled his eyes and grinned, more laughs followed.

"What's dungeons and dragons?" Carl asked curious.

"Well," I said having to think about how to describe it, "It's a nerdy ass board and card game kids play with this like twenty sided dice."

"How does it work?" Carl asked further.

"Honestly I have no idea," I laughed. Glenn then proceeded to explain it.

"And this coming from someone who calls the walkers geeks," Mac laughed, getting his jab in there. Glenn blushed slightly as he laughed and Maggie smiled and lightly tapped her shoulder to his. Clearly they were together and Hershel frowned noticing their little interaction too and Beth giggled beside him.

"So what do yall do around here at night for keepin an eye on the place?" Risk asked.

"Well we don't really have a night watch," John admitted and all their faces looked shocked.

"How are yall still alive?" Daryl asked, his tone implying he was surprised that we made it this long. Taylor glared at him and answered,

"We take precautions at night. We all stay in the cabin and board up the door and windows. In case you couldn't tell havin five people makes it rather difficult to have a rotating night watch schedule." They all looked incredulous.

"There is a barbed wire fence that runs completely around the area and plus we don't get many walkers on the property, just a handful so far," I felt I had to clarify further.

"Plus this one's a super light sleeper, rolling around all night, she'd wake us all up if she heard anythin," Rose added pointing to me and I glared at her for telling them about my sleeping habits. I leaned back in my chair and listened to everyone chatter around the fire. At this point I felt like I might fall asleep in my chair I was so tired. I found my eyelids starting to droop against my will.

"Darlin maybe you should take an early night, yall look like yer ready to drop," Rose said putting her hand on my shoulder.

"I think your right," I got up and said goodnight to everyone. The last thing I noticed was a narrowed pair of eyes following me as I made my way to the cabin. Oh joy, looks like I made a new friend.

**Yes I know Dale died in the series BUT I decided to keep him alive because I like his character and was ****_less than pleased _****when they killed him off instead of someone else less useful *cough*Lori*cough*.**

**Let me know what you think of everyone's first encounter, if there is anything you think I should change or add. Also let me know what you think of Daryl's****_ inner monologue_**** :P, since this is first person I couldn't think of any other way to write in it other than a brief POV change. Thanks and please review :)**


	6. Chapter 5

Ch. 5

**Note: The line separating the text means a change in POV to Daryl's**

My limbs felt like lead and were stiff as I rolled out of bed the next morning. I walked out into the cabin living area and no one was in there. I looked at the walk clock, 9 am! Holy shit, I had slept for like twelve hours. I was walking to the bathroom just as Taylor emerged, his hair wet.

"Mornin," He said in greeting.

"Morning, you just wake up too?" I asked.

"Yep, slept like the dead," He grinned at his crappy joke, "You?"

"I don't think I moved all night," I said massaging my neck, "You done in there? I need a shower like no one's business."

"It's all yours and your right yall stink," He laughed plugging his nose for dramatic effect.

"Ass!" I said with no real venom and stuck my tongue out at him. The water was luke warm but it still managed to help my sore muscles relax. By the time I got out and attempted to dry my hair, Taylor was long gone. I opened the communal closet looking for some more soap to put in the bathroom when almost a whole shelf fell out and items sprawled all over the floor.

"Damnit Mac!" He didn't know how to put anything away properly. I bent down to pick up everything when I spotted the giant tube container and I smiled as I came up with an idea.

After cleaning up all the stuff and putting it away properly, I headed outside carrying the metal tube, the contents slightly clanging inside.

"Well look who finally decided to join us," Mac taunted. I rolled my eyes,

"Hey I had a long day yesterday."

"Saved you some breakfast," John said. At that my stomach grumbled and I decided my plan could wait a few minutes while I shoveled my food. I sat down at the picnic table and quickly hid the metal container underneath so no one would ask about it. John shoved the plate in front of me and I inhaled it without really tasting it. Carl bounded over to me and sat down opposite of me.

"Morin," He smiled.

"Morning, I like your hat," I smiled pointing to the sheriffs hate he was wearing.

"Thanks, my Dad gave it to me," He said proudly, "He was the sheriff in our town." I noticed Lori walking over to us.

"Geez Carl, let the girl eat," She scolded lightly.

"It's fine, I like some conversation while I eat," I grinned at him and he smiled his childish smile back.

"See mom, I'm not bothering her none." Lori gave me a tight smile and ruffled his hair and then went back to whatever she was doing before. She passed Rick on her way and I noticed they didn't even look at each other. Rick saw Carl and me then started to walk towards us. Looks like I was really going to get that breakfast conversation after all.

"How yall feeling this morning?" He asked smiling politely in greeting.

"Like I got as much sleep last night as I have in the last month total," I replied.

"I can't believe you and that other guy carried that deer back all by yourselves!" Carl said impressed.

"Well it wasn't easy that's for sure, my shoulder is still sore," I said rolling my right arm socket.

"You do lot of huntin before this?" Rick asked.

"Well not lot's _lot's_, I went with my Dad a few times every season. I lived in Seattle so we had to travel a bit before we could hunt anywhere. Went up to BC a couple of times." I answered.

"Where's BC?" Carl asked.

"It's north of Seattle in Canada."

"Cool! Did you catch anything?"

"Yep. I once caught a 700 pound elk," I bragged slightly. At that Carl was clearly impressed.

"Can you take me with you next time? I can help." Carl said hopeful and Rick made a face.

"That would be up to your parents," I said at the frown Rick was making. Carl looked up at him expectantly.

"I don't think so Carl. It's pretty dangerous."

"Please Dad, I'm gunna need to learn eventually anyways," I grinned at Carl's whining, I almost forgot what it was like when dealing with kids.

"We'll see," Rick said in a tone that clearly said _we will not see_. Carl huffed at that and they argued a bit more. Using the distraction I inconspicuously looked around for my target. I saw him, a little ways away from everyone cleaning his crossbow and arrows on a log.

"Excuse me," I said to Rick and Carl who were still arguing. I picked up the container and headed off towards Daryl, hoping I wouldn't garner too much attention. Rose nodded at me as I passed but then went straight back to her laundry. Mac just waved, the knife he was using slipping from his clumsy hands and he swore as he bent down to pick it up. Well that could have ended badly, like a knife in the foot badly.

If he heard me approach, Daryl gave no indication; he just kept at what he was doing.

"So whatcha doing?" I said in an attempt to make conversation.

"Cleanin', what's it look like?" He replied his tone clipped.

"Fascinating." He spared me a quick glance to send a glare my way. Damnit this wasn't getting off to a great start.

"Whatcha want?" He asked.

"Well I came over here to apologize for my outburst yesterday."

"Well yall doin a great job of it." I decided to ignore that.

"Anyways, I'm sorry and it was rude. I was exhausted and kind of delirious." He just grunted in response. Well that's annoying.

"Here," I said holding the tube container at him. That got his attention and he looked up at me.

"What's that?" I jiggled it and he took it from me.

"They are titanium bolts for a crossbow. They're light but sturdy and I think there is like 15 in there."

"Why are you givin em to me?" He asked still not getting the message. I mentally rolled my eyes.

"I found them in the cabin and since none of us actually have a crossbow, I thought I would give them to you. Consider them part of my apology, a peace offering I guess," I shrugged.

"Thanks," He said gruffly, taking one out and looking it over, turning it around in his hands.

"You're welcome." I replied and at that walked back towards the cabin, knowing I wasn't going to get much more out of him. He didn't seem like the type for small talk.

* * *

That was not what I had expected to happen when she walked over here. I heard her steps but wasn't going to say anythin. I didn't expect her to apologize; no one ever apologized to him without it soundin like pity. I played with one of the bolts, inspecting it. It was a nice piece, some of those high end huntin kind. I guess this was supposed to mean some kind of truce or somethin between em. Her givin me these now made me feel a little guilty about leavin em to lug that deer back yesterday. Damn her, I don't feel guilt over any one, cept Merle I guess. I looked up and watched her walk back to everyone, that fool from yesterday sendin me a glare then going after her.

* * *

"Why were you over there with him?" Taylor asked sticking his nose where it doesn't belong again. I sighed,

"I apologized for my rudeness yesterday and gave him those arrow/bolt things."

"Our arrows?" Taylor said a bit angry.

"Well it's not like we can use them!" Taylor's mouth formed a mulish line at that but didn't say anything further. Wise of him.

The rest of the day was uneventful, basically it was filled with socializing, trying to get to know everyone. Earlier Beth had come up to me and asked me something when she made sure no one else was within ear shot.

"Umm I was just wonderin but are you and Taylor _together_?" Her shy intention obvious. I laughed out loud at that, causing her to blush a little.

"No Beth, were not _together. _Taylor is like a brother to me and even though this _is _the south," She glared at that, southern people were touchy about that, "I don't feel that way about him." She grinned and nodded and we chatted some more. It was nice to have girl talk for once; Rose wasn't much for girly talk.

Soon it was supper time and we all gathered around to eat.

"Tea?" Carol offered from beside Lori.

"No thanks, I'm more of a coffee person. Being from Seattle I practically grew up on it." I joked.

"Pfft yall say you're from Seattle but ya don't even like fish." Rose ribbed at me. I frowned knowing exactly where this was going,

"Yes I am aware of the irony," I rolled my eyes and she launched into the story.

"This one here, stickin her nose up at the fish we all caught one time, tried puttin one in the meat smoker."

"I was trying to make it taste better! Like smoked salmon." I said in my defense.

"Anyways, not only did it ruin the fish, it stunk up the cabin for days!" She snorted and every laughed. I sighed and rolled my eyes, not liking my new apparent role as the camp clown. Eventually the focus shifted off me, thank god and soon everyone was swapping stories, late into the night.

"Come on Carl time to go to bed," Lori said ushering Carl to his feet.

"I'm not tired," He replied but his droopy eyes gave him away. They said their goodnights and soon everyone followed suit. Later that night I was rolling around in bed unable to sleep so I got up to get some fresh air.

"Thank god," I heard Rose mutter from the other side of the bed and I chuckled. I guess I had been keeping her up with my tossing and turning. I headed outside with one of our flashlights and noticed that Rick was also up. I walked over to where he was sitting at the edge of the camp further down from the cabin and he turned around to me as I approached.

"Hey," I said, "It's just me." I sat down beside him.

"Can't sleep?"

"Nope. Must be all that sleep I got yesterday keeping me up. So I guess you have watch tonight." After John's admission that we didn't have any night watch system the other day, everyone decided that since our numbers are larger that we should start.

"Yep, although I don't mind the company," He smiled, "So you're from Seattle? What are you doin out here? If you don't mind me askin."

"I was visiting my Grandma who lives out here. Taking a break before I worked for the rest of the summer." He seemed to be debating asking me the next question,

"What happened to your Grandmother?" After a minute I answered quietly,

"The same thing that happened to everyone else." I swallowed at the lump in my throat.

"Sorry I shouldn't have asked." He said gently.

"It's fine, we've all lost someone right?" He looked away when I said that, "It's just that I feel guilty. Like if hadn't gone to that stupid store and had been there I might have been able to save her and she'd still be alive." He looked back at me,

"You shouldn't beat yourself up about it. Don't keep shouldering that guilt cause it will eat away at you," His voice rang with sincerity.

"Looks like your one to talk," I pointed out and he chuckled,

"Guess so." We sat in a slightly awkward silence for a few minutes with a bit of small talk mixed in there.

"So you were a Sheriff before all this? I bet that came in handy."

"Yeah. Got to raid the precincts gun and ammo lockers and everythin." I chuckled at his joke,

"That was handy."

"So what did you do before all this?" He asked.

"I was a student at Seattle University. Getting my business degree with a major in marketing, lot of good that does me now," He grinned at that, "I had taken some time off before I started so I still had one year to go." At 23 I was only a couple of years older than the others in my year.

"I wish I had gone to school and did something else," He said wistfully, "But Lori got pregnant and I had to find a proper job fast." I snorted at that and looked at me confused.

"Trust me you don't wish you had. If this all hadn't happened, in a year I would be one of those corporate zombies," Thankfully he grinned at my terrible joke, "You know the ones you see in suits with a cell phone attached to their ear and a coffee always in their hands, sitting in boring meetings all day. At least you got to see action once and a while." It was his turn to snort at my comment,

"Action, right. Up until I had been shot, the most action I had during work was takin home drunk and disorderly folks."

"Still better than spending your life in a cubicle."

"Fair enough."

"So John had mentioned that some of you planned to go back to the farm you were staying at to get the rest of your stuff," I said.

"Yeah Glen, Hershel, Maggie and I are heading back tomorrow. T-Dog is supposed to be relieving me soon so I can rest up."

"Did you guys want some help? I'm a good shot plus maybe I can get John to lend us his truck since your little SUV thing probably won't be able to fit that much stuff while you all are in it," I offered.

"Well I can't say no to that," He smiled at me, "You sure?"

"I'm sure, I don't like sitting around here all day anyways, which is what I would be doing otherwise." I sighed at the thought of doing all my laundry I let pile up, yep I was definitely going.

"We were thinkin of leaving around 9 am."

"Don't worry I will be up in time if that's what your worried about."

"I didn't mean it like that." He looked kind of embarrassed.

"Sure sure," I teased getting up, "Well I guess I better try to get some sleep so that I don't sleep through you guys leaving and all. I'll ask John about using his truck in the morning but I'm sure he won't mind."

"Sounds good."

" 'K, goodnight."

"Night," He replied, flashing a smile one last time. I used my flashlight to guide me back to the cabin and when I slipped back into my bed, squeezed my eyes shut willing my body to fall asleep faster.

**Please review and let me know what you think about the POV changes. Are they bad? Are they consistent with Daryl's character? Thanks for reading :) and thanks to the few who have reviewed/faved/followed, you guys are awesome!**


	7. Chapter 6

Ch. 6

I managed to wake up on time despite the fact that I hadn't been asleep for very long. I heard people talking in the living room area and I got up to find John.

"Morning," I said to everyone and every one said it back.

"Well you're up early," Mac teased and I rolled my eyes,

"Geez, I sleep in once and I have to hear about it for the rest of my life," I turned to John, "So I guess you know about Rick and others going back to their farm today to get the rest of their supplies."

"Yeah why?"

"Wait what? Why didn't you tell us?" Taylor asked John.

"It doesn't have anything to do with us,"

"Yes it does. They said the place got over run with walkers, they go there then head back here, the walkers might follow them this way." Taylor had a fair point.

"Anyways, I said I would go with them today." At that everyone's head whipped to me.

"No you're not," Taylor said as if he thought he had some control over it. I glared at him,

"It's not up to you, _I_ volunteered," I turned to John, "I was wondering if we could use your truck since it has more room to bring their stuff back in." John scrubbed his hand over his face as he thought it out.

"Fine."

"Pop! You can't be serious!" Taylor shouted angrily.

"It has nothing to do with you!" I shouted back.

"Yes it does. Were all family now!" He replied and I sighed at that, way to make me feel guilty.

"Taylor she already said she would go," John said calmly, "Who else is going?"

"Rick, Hershel, Glenn, Maggie and me," I said counting the scavenging group Rick had said last night.

"Oh great now I feel even less good about you going," Taylor grumbled at the group I just listed off.

"Their little SUV won't fit them all and hold their supplies so I said I would ask you for the truck."

"Who would be driving?" John asked.

"Me of course," I said and I couldn't help but notice the face John made.

"Well looks like you might not be getting your truck back in one piece," Mac grinned at me.

"Please, I am an awesome driver," I said to Mac's comment. We all looked at John for his verdict because he was the 'leader' of our group and well, it was his truck. Just as he was about to say something the front door opened and Rick popped in.

"Mornin," He said in greeting, "We are just about ready to head out. Just wanted to see if you were still coming with us today?" He looked at me and I nodded,

"Yep, John just said we could use his truck," I replied.

"Thank you John," Rick said genuinely and John smiled in response. They all got up and headed outside. I grabbed my Berretta's with their silencers attached and some extra ammo and stuffed them into my satchel along with a water bottle and some deer jerky, then headed out to join them outside. Everyone was together around the campfire area eating breakfast. Rose handed me a plate,

"Yall need ta eat something before ya go."

"Thanks," I took the plate and sat down. Rick was talking to Carl and Lori hushed over near the truck, I couldn't make out what they were staying but it sounded emotional. I guess they weren't too happy that he was going back to the farm. My group came and sat down beside me.

"Maybe I should go instead of that old man," Taylor said, "I mean I'd be way more useful."

"It was Hershel's farm, he will know what to take and what to leave plus he's not an invalid, he can use a gun. All you country boys know how to shoot," I rolled my eyes and Taylor just narrowed his eyes.

"How about instead of the farm girl or the Asian guy?" Mac suggested. I sighed,

"It's Maggie's farm too and apparently Glenn is their supply run guy."

"How do ya know all this?" Rose asked.

"Rick told me last night," I said taking the last bite of my breakfast.

"So that's were yall went last night," Rose grinned and they all looked at me.

"Great know your making me out to be a homewrecker or something," I glared at her, "I couldn't sleep and when I went outside he was on watch. We talked for a bit and I volunteered to go with them. That is all." Did they seriously think I would do anything like that?

"I don't doubt it. You're as awkward as I am." Mac laughed and everyone grinned and nodded.

"Gee thanks guys," I mumbled.

"You ready?" Rick asked suddenly right beside our table. I nodded and followed him to the truck. John handed him the keys and looked at me.

"I'd feel better with Rick drivin," He shrugged apologetically.

"Fine but I call shotgun then," I grinned.

"But…" Glenn said and Maggie rolled her eyes beside him.

"Yall will be sittin in the back with me," Maggie said and Glenn held his tongue. Everyone was giving everyone hugs and wishing us well. John gave me a huge hug and then put his hands on my shoulders.

"Be safe ok?" He said smiling at me, "And darlin you better come back." I felt a little uncomfortable since I wasn't very good at emotional stuff, in the last few months he had become family and his concern was making me a little misty eyed.

"I'll see what I can do," I grinned back at him, pushing the emotion back down.

"You watch out for her alright?" John said sternly to Rick.

"Of course," Rick nodded. I grumbled at that, they were talking about me like I was a child. John gave me one last hug and we all piled into the truck; Rick driving, me in the passenger seat and Glenn, Maggie and Hershel in the back.

"So how far is it to your farm?" I asked after about twenty minutes on the road.

"Bout an hour or so drivin," Hershel answered. I started rifling through the middle console.

"What are you looking for?" Glenn piped up from the back seat.

"Some music, so far only country CD's," I frowned.

"Well what kind are you looking for?"

"Anything but country," I grinned at him.

"You do realize you're in the south right?" Rick said and turned to him to see he was grinning.

"Yeah I just don't like country music. It's all _Jesus take the wheel _or _I kissed my sweetie with my fist (1)_," I joked and thankfully they all laughed except for Hershel, he didn't look too pleased.

"Success," I exclaimed as I held up the CCR greatest hits CD. I put on the music so that at least it wasn't deathly silent in the vehicle.

"Rick how are we gunna approach this?" Hershel asked.

"Well I was thinkin that we would scope out the property with the binoculars before we drove up the whole driveway, just to get an idea of how many walkers are still on the property. If it was still over run, we will go back but most likely it has cleared out some and we can try to pick off the rest." He explained.

"Do you think we have enough ammo?" Glenn asked.

"I duuno Glenn but we left some of our guns and ammo on the farm so we can go for those when we get there."

"Carol had said she saw Andrea had one of the gun bags with her," Maggie added and Rick made a face.

"Who's Andrea?" I asked.

"Andrea was one of our group and she got separated from us that night," Rick explained.

"Is she alive?" I asked knowing the chance was probably slim.

"We don't know. A few saw her get taken down by a walker."

"As it bit?"

"I don't think so, more like toppled on."

"So she might still be out there," I said looking out the window.

"Or she could be one of those walkers roaming the farm," Maggie said bluntly, she obviously didn't think too much of this Andrea person. I remained quiet. How could they leave someone behind like that? Had it been one of my group, we all would have went looking for the missing person. Rick spoke up,

"I know your probably wonderin how we could leave someone there but we didn't have a choice. The place was over run and we barely got away as it is, we even lost a couple others that we know for sure."

Again silence fell in the truck. Suddenly I wasn't so sure about coming with them anymore, I mean if they could leave one of their own behind then….I didn't want to think it. I was going to ask who else they lost but it seemed like an inappropriate question and it was already kind of awkward in here as it was. So we just road in silence, except for the music, the rest of the way.

We finally arrived at the turn off; it was marked with a mailbox that read Greene. We stopped a ways away from the house just to get a view of the place before we barreled on up there. I didn't have the binoculars but I could see that there still were quite a few stragglers left. I counted about 25 but they were all sort of spaced out all over the property which would make it easier for us to pick them off.

"I count 27-28 walkers all over the property. There could be more in the trees though and any gun fire will probably draw them out," Rick said still peering into the binoculars. I didn't like the sound of that.

"So should we use the melee weapons first?" I asked talking about ones we had brought with us.

"That might work since they are all kind of spread out," Glenn added.

"Maybe we should drive around the property and take them out first, that way they won't all congregate in one place because once we park this truck, the noise will draw them all to that spot," I said trying to think this through before we drove up there. The sound of the truck's engine had already caught the attention of the nearer infected because they started to amble towards us.

"Alright but we don't want to use the guns until we have to and we can't be in the truck to use the other weapons," Rick countered.

"Rick how about you let me drive the truck around to distract them and then you guys go out there and pick em off while they're chasin after the sound," Hershel responded. No one looked particularly pleased with this plan but no one could come up with any other ideas.

"We should probably get to it," I said pointing out the windshield at the few walkers approaching us. We all jumped out and Hershel took the driver's seat while we grabbed our weapons. Rick took the machete, Glenn took the bat and Maggie took the pitchfork.

"What about you?" She asked. I held up one of my Berettas,

"I have a silencer on this thing so we should be good." Rick waved Hershel on and he took off to the left of the dirt driveway, the closest walkers following slowly behind.

"Ok guys I think we should stick relatively close to each other," Rick said, "Within eye sight." We all nodded and took off following him. The three walkers that were ambling behind the truck were the main ones we caught up to right away. Rick was the first to make any move; he raised his machete and swung with full force right at the neck. The walker's head was completely cut off from the clean swipe and the head rolled off to the side, the body falling uselessly to the ground. This alerted the other two and they stopped their pursuit to turn on us.

They made low moaning sounds at the sight of us. Glenn whipped his bat at the head of one of them and it flew back. Maggie used the pitchfork to stab the remaining one in the neck. However it didn't go down, it just stayed gurgling at the end still reaching for her. I ran around her and aimed my gun at the things head and shot. It fell to the ground taking the end of the pitchfork with it.

"Thanks," Maggie said as she pulled her weapon out if the walker's neck and I nodded in response. Glenn had finished pulverizing the walker's head that he took down and his bat was covered in blood and chunks, which I'm guessing was brain matter.

"Eww," He said at the sight and whipped it around to get the nasty stuff off.

"Hey watch it!" Maggie hissed as some flew at her.

"Sorry," He said embarrassed.

"Come on," Rick whispered and we started to move again. We all spread out but were still within eye sight of each other. I saw a few wandering along the fence and headed towards them. I raised my gun to eye level and shot the nearest one and managed to get it in one shot. All the 'target practice' I have been getting has definitely paid off. I jogged closer to the fence since the other two were on the opposite side and they started towards me as I got closer. One got close enough that I was able to shoot it but I missed the one behind it, just hitting its arm.

"Dammit," I swore under my breath and I raised the gun to shoot again. I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger, this time my bullet hitting the proper target. I looked back to see Rick and Glenn taking out further away ones and Maggie heading over to the shed type building to take out those ones. Hershel whipped by that area to draw them away from Maggie but none of them paid him any attention but he did manage to alert the others near there to her presence.

I started running over to help her as I saw the walkers heading towards her, her back turned to me. She was busy taking out the two in front of her when a few more started closing in behind her. I tried to aim as I ran but I didn't think my skills were as good as John's and I didn't want to risk accidently shooting her so I picked up my pace. By the time I reached her area, the infected had started to close in on her as well as increase in number and she was whipping the pitchfork around franticly to keep them at bay. Maggie managed to knock the closest ones down but they were still getting back up. Her eyes meet mine when she turned around and she mouthed help.

I slowed once I approached and ran to the side of the horde so that no bullets would go through their bodies and possibly hit Maggie. I started to rapidly fire, taking down a few but missed just as many times, my panic over riding my shooting skills. Soon I pulled on the trigger and the gun just clicked, the clip empty. I backed up quickly as they started towards me and fumbled through my bag to find my other Berretta.

"Come on, come on," I hissed as I finally wrapped my fingers around the extra gun and threw the empty one back in. I took the safety off and started shooting again. Maggie made her way around the horde while they were distracted and ran to my side.

"Oh god," She said, panic lacing her voice. We kept backing up until our bodies made contact with the remnants of what I assumed was the burned down barn, the one wall standing up angled inwards.

"Shit!" I swore as I took down the two closest ones and Maggie stabbed the one near her, knocking it down. I lowered my gun and shot that one in the head before it tried to get up again. The horde was slowly dwindling but some would reach us before we managed to take them all out. Once the infected formed a crowd like this, they were harder to pick off. The walkers were closing in all around us, the barn blocking our rear and I started to panic. All I could think over and over was how we should have planned this out better and then right beside me Maggie let out an ear piercing scream.

**Duh-duh-duuhhh :P**

**(1)- I totally stole that second part from Family Guy. Thanks again and please review! And thank you to the few who have reviewed/faved/followed so far :)**


	8. Chapter 7

**I just want to say thanks to Emberka-2012 for your constant reviews :) and to the others who have reviewed! **

Ch. 7

I looked to my right to see that a walker had launched itself at Maggie, taking her down with it. For a split second the thought of leaving her while I got away crossed my mind but I squashed that thought down as soon as it has invaded my mind. I saw the thing rear its head up to take a bite out of her and I whipped my gun around and shot it between the eyes. Maggie pushed the now limp body off of her and I grabbed her arm and yanked her up. Thankfully she still had her hold on the pitchfork.

"Thank you," Maggie said with tears in her eyes. I turned to my left and shot out the infected on the edge of the crowd creating an opening for us to escape through.

"Come on," I yelled motioning to the small break in the infected, "Don't trip on the bodies." We bounded over the fallen ones and kept running. As soon as we had put enough distance between us and the mini-horde, I stopped to catch my breath and look around for the others. Glenn was running straight at us with Rick in tow and the truck was at the other side of the property.

"Oh my god Maggie, are you alright?" Glenn yelled frantically as he ran up to her, checking her all over for bites or scratches.

"Yeah I mean no bites or anythin," She said hugging Glenn, "Reina here saved my ass." Maggie smiled at me.

"Thank god!" Glenn exclaimed, grinning at me too.

"That's what I'm here for right, extra muscle?" I chuckled and pointed my thumb behind me, "But we should probably take care of the riot behind us." Once Rick reached us, we all descended onto the remaining horde. After another round of physical exertion, we finally all managed to take out the rest of the walkers that we could see.

"Everyone ok?" Rick asked and we all did a self-inventory to make sure there were no bites or scratches.

Hershel pulled up to the house and whipped a doughnut so that the rear of the truck was facing the house. I looked around the farm, for the most part all the structures still seemed to be standing, aside from the barn. They had a camp area set up near the trees by the house but it looked trampled.

"Maggie and I will clear out the house supplies and you guys can see what you can salvage from your camp and anythin else on the property," Hershel dictated as he got out of the truck. Rick, Glenn and I headed over to their makeshift camp area.

"Hey this tent looks like it's still good," Glenn said optimistically as he placed his hand on it. The walls collapsed under his slight touch.

"Or not," He muttered moving on.

I wandered over to the chicken coop to take a look and I could smell the rot from a few feet away. I breathed through my mouth as I drew closer, removing my pistol just in case. The inside was covered in a mass of blood and feathers; it seemed that the walkers had destroyed the livestock in their attack as well. The horse stable fared no better, I didn't even have to go inside to tell, one of the horses emancipated bodies lay right outside the entrance.

"Damn geeks," Glenn muttered suddenly behind me.

"Should we do something about it?" I asked turning to Glenn and he made a face at that.

"I'd rather not."

"Agreed. So you guys said you had lost others, how many more did you lose?" I asked knowing Glenn would tell me. He sighed,

"Well at our original camp by a ravine outside the city we had lots of people but by the time we got to Hershel's farm we pretty much had as many people as we do now. We lost Carol's husband at the attack on the ravine and her daughter Sophia on the highway after leaving the CDC."

"The Center for Disease Control?" I interjected.

"Yeah we went there to see if they had a cure or anything really. It was just this one scientist guy and well," Glenn looked a bit uncomfortable, "it blew up."

"It blew up?" I said astonished.

"Trust me I wouldn't have believed what happened there if I wasn't there myself."

"Was the scientist able to tell you anything?" I prodded and at that he looked even more uncomfortable.

"Yeah he told Rick that we were all infected," He said quietly. I didn't quite know how to process this new information.

"So does that mean even if we don't die from a walker we will still turn?" I asked scared for the answer. Glenn nodded solemnly.

"What if the scientist was wrong? Do you have any proof?"

"Well," He stopped and looked over to the camp area to see Rick picked through some stuff then leaned closer and said quietly, "Rick shot his friend Shane and he came back apparently. That's how he knew Jenner wasn't lying." My mouth hung open at that last statement.

"I'm sorry what? Rick shot a person? A human being not an infected?"

"Shhhh," Glenn said putting his finger to his lips, "It's a long story." I gave him a look that said _well get on with it_. He relented, I guess he wasn't very good at keeping secrets in the first place and told me their whole story starting at their ravine camp. I gaped at him after not sure how to process everything I heard.

"Man it's like the freaking young and the restless with you people, except with zombies," I said not knowing how I was supposed to respond to what Glenn just told me.

"You're not kidding."

"I can't believe it though; I mean Rick shot that guy who was supposed to be his friend?" I said glancing over at Rick who was still picking through their camp remains.

"I'm not saying Rick was right but Shane was out of control and dangerous, it was only a matter of time before he did something serious."

"Hmm," was all I could muster for a response.

From what Glenn had told me, this wasn't a cut and dry situation. That Shane guy had drove Rick to it but his wife Lori was also partly to blame, causing the drama between them in the first place. I didn't know the whole story since I only had Glenn's account so I couldn't really judge but still something major was being left out. My impression of Rick had done a complete 180 in the short time it took Glenn to talk. I wasn't sure what to do but I knew I had to tell John all this when we got back. Not for the sake of gossip but for our safety.

"You're not going to make us leave no are you?" Glenn said suddenly panicked.

"No," I lied. I didn't know how John would react so I just kept my mouth shut. Glenn smiled at me and I felt pretty guilty.

"We should probably get back over there." I nodded and we walked back over.

"Find anything over there?" Rick asked.

"The walkers cleaned out all the livestock," I replied.

"How about you?" Glenn asked Rick.

"Well two tents are still usable and lots of gear is still good. Let's start packing some of it to the truck." We started our trips back and forth, hauling the useable items to the truck. Maggie and Hershel were adding things to the truck as well and soon there was a huge pile in the back of the truck. I went inside the cab to look for the bungee cables we had packed and handed them to Glenn,

"Once we have everything we will need to secure it so nothing goes flying."

"Everything outside that we can still use is all packed; you need some help in the house Hershel?" Rick offered. Hershel nodded and we followed him inside. Their home was very little house on the prairie with the wooden floors groaning under our every foot.

"Grab whatever you think will fit and be useful," Hershel said solemnly looking around. Maggie and Glenn headed up the creaky stairs and Hershel turned to Rick and me.

"Would you guys mind taking the supplies out of the cellar? We still have lots of canned goods and fuel I think still down there."

I made a face at that. Man cellars still creep me out, even though we had more serious things to be scared of now. I didn't really remember much from my younger years but I still vividly recall going down to my Grandma's musty cellar one time when I was maybe six. It was so dark and the naked single bulb didn't offer much light. I had gotten to the bottom of the wooden stairs when my uncle jumped out from behind a shelf and yelled boo, trying to scare me. Needless to say it worked and that memory of being terrified has stayed with me since. I also remembered my Mother going nuclear on my uncle afterwards when I had come running up the stairs screaming and crying.

"Come on," Rick said pulling me out of my memories. We walked back through the front doors and out to the side of the house where the cellar doors were located. They were wide open which instantly made my hackles rise.

"Was Hershel out here earlier?" I asked.

"I don't think so." We both pulled out and raised our weapons. I followed Rick as he started to descend the stairs into the darkness. The cellar was way bigger than I thought it would be but I guess this was a farm, they had the room to make a larger one. Rick made the hand gestures that said he would take left and I would take right. I nodded reluctantly, not sure that I really wanted to split up. The light from the doors was strained this far back and there was no light bulb or anything; this cellar was a really old school one.

I passed lots of shelves with store bought supplies and homemade canned food as well. I picked up one the contents sloshing around inside, it looked pretty nasty whatever it was. The water was a dull red and the stuff inside had a pink color to it; my guess was this was some sort of preserved meat. How you preserved meat like that, I had no idea. I moved to place the mystery jar back onto the shelf when I heard movement right behind me.

I spun around to see the face of an infected right behind me. Before my mind could register anything the walker launched itself at me with a garbled grunt. I let out a short scream as the thing knocked me backwards into the freestanding wooden shelf behind me, both of us toppling over with the shelf. I landed hard, the breath being ripped from my lungs; the infected was squirming on top of me trying to get its face close enough to take a bite. I strained with all my might just to keep hold on the things upper forearms to keep its nails and teeth anyway from me. Once my lungs started to work again I was just about to let out a scream for help when suddenly the walker was torn from my grasp, flying backwards. Rick stood over the thing and let loose with his machete, severing the head from the now still body.

"You alright?" Rick asked as he offered me a hand. I took it and he hauled me to my feet.

"I think so," I quickly looked over myself, "No bites or scratches." We both let out a breath of relief. I didn't know what to think, I was thankful that Rick had saved me but part of me wondered what would have happened had I actually been bitten or anything? Would he have shot me right here? With what Glenn had told me earlier running through my mind I knew it might have been a possibility.

"Thanks," I said at his assessing stare.

"You're welcome, glad you're ok."

"Trust me, I am too. Um although some of Hershel's jarred goods didn't fare as well," I said looking down at the mess.

"From the smell their giving off I don't think they were edible anyways," Rick smiled slightly.

"Ugh I think some of it got on me," I said feeling the back of my jacket. After that we scrounged around taking whatever we thought we could use bringing it back to the truck. Once we made our last trip down in the nasty cellar, we waited outside for the others to finish.

"What's that smell?" Glenn grimaced as his face scrunched up.

"That'd be me," I said, "Walker knocked me and one of your shelves over breaking some of the jars."

"You ok?" Maggie asked concerned. We had only known each other for like two days but it was nice to know she cared.

"Yep, Rick saved _me _this time." And she grinned.

"Guess we will be rolling down the windows," Glenn joked.

"Eh you get used to it," I smirked back.

We secured the rest of the items in the back of the truck which now had a mountain of stuff piled it. The ride down the driveway was a somber one as everyone was giving one last glance towards their old home. Maggie grabbed her father's hand and he just looked pensive out the back window as we drove away. The trip had been a success I supposed in the sense that no one was actually wounded or hurt and that we were able to bring back so much with us.

Admittedly the walkers had proved to be a bigger problem than I would have liked but I think we handled ourselves pretty well. These guys had seen and been through a lot and it showed in the way they handled themselves today. I guess by comparison, our group was kind of isolated. I had never dealt with so many walkers in one place before, usually in the cities and towns we just quietly snuck around not to disrupt the infected. In a way it was an eye opener because we couldn't stay undisturbed at the cabin forever and most likely the same thing that happened at the farm would happen there. I guess nowhere was safe.

At that depressing thought we finally pulled up to the cabin after a long, silent drive back. We all hoped out into the crowd waiting around the truck.

"Glad your back in one piece darlin," John said as he gave me a one armed hug.

"And so is your truck!" Mac joked and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Man you smell!" Taylor had to get his quip in there.

"Long story," I replied as Rose gave me a rather hard slap on the back. Glenn jumped up into the bed to pass things down into waiting arms.

"You're like an Asian Santa," I grinned as I took a rolled up tent from him.

"Ha ha," Glenn rolled his eyes but was smiling and people chuckled.

"I'll take that," Daryl said appearing beside me, taking the tent, "And that guys right, ya reek." I rolled my eyes,

"It's not me! It was whatever was in those creepy jars."

"Uh-huh." He snorted as he walked away with the tent.

"What was in them?" Carl asked detaching himself from Rick.

"I don't know but," I leaned in closely and whispered, "I think it might have been pickled organs!"

"Ewww," He laughed. As much as I meant that to be a joke, in all fairness it kind of did look like that (and smelt like it). Thankfully with all the extra hands, everything was unpacked in record time and I was able to go shower and change into something clean. I smiled down at the pile of clothes in my room, Rose had done my laundry while I was away; I'd have to thank her for that later.

**Thanks for reading and please review and let me know what you think about the story so far :)**

**So the next chapter will have muchas more Daryl in it, I swear! :P**


	9. Chapter 8

Ch. 8

**Note: The page break means a change in POV to Daryl's**

"Ah John, can I talk to you for a sec?" I asked when I caught him the cabin later after I had finished cleaning up and fumigating myself.

"Sure what it is?" He asked leaning against the counter.

"Well ah, today I found out some….interesting news from Glenn about Rick and well their whole group I guess," I felt like I was ratting them out or something but had to tell John. He stood patient as I relayed everything Glenn had told me earlier. When I was done John stood there for a couple of minutes absorbing everything.

"Well that's quite the tale. They've been through a lot."

"What do you think?" I asked, I trusted his judgment completely. He let out a deep breath,

"Honestly I don't know. Rick musta had his reasons for what he did but that don't make it right either." John looked as perplexed about it as I was.

"For what it's worth he seems like an ok guy, really stressed out but still a good guy. He saved me from a walker today," I admitted.

"You ok?" John pushed himself away from the counter to get a closer look.

"Yeah, the thing didn't bite me or anything. Rick pulled it off me and killed it before it got a chance to," I said and John relaxed.

"Come on you guys, suppers ready," Mac said interrupting us as he poked his head inside.

"I'll sleep on what you told me before I decide anything," John said quietly just before we reached everyone and I nodded.

"Make sure your downwind please," Mac smirked at me.

"I showered!" I said as I punched his arm playfully.

The supper chatter was filled with happiness as people were glad to get their belongings back. Mainly they were happy at the fact that we found more tents and now they wouldn't be crowed when they slept, two at the most per tent now. I found it hard enough sharing the queen bed with Rose; I couldn't imagine sharing a tent with like three or four people. She snored and before I got used to it, I would be kept awake all night contemplating smothering her with a pillow just so I could get some sleep. But apparently I kick in my sleep so I guess we were even, I had to get my revenge in there somewhere.

Somehow the conversation had turn towards how this infection all started, people belting out their theories.

"I bet it was the damn government."

"No it was probably genetic, a mutation or something."

"Naw, I bet it was all those chemicals bein pumped into our food."

"Please, we all know it was mad cow disease," I joked and Mac laughed beside me.

"Probably the Chinese, with all their sneaky nuclear testin and stuff." Someone said and everyone looked at Glenn.

"I'm Korean for the last time," He muttered into his plate and laughs erupted all around.

**WDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWD WDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWD**

A few nights later I had the first watch. I had taken my rifle with me as I circled the property with my flashlight. I felt very much like a solider right then.

"This is my rifle, this is my gun. This is for fighting, this is for fun," I chuckled at my own joke.

"You ain't got the right parts for that girlie," A voice drawled from behind me. I gasped and whirled around,

"Jesus tap-dancing Christ you scared me!" I exclaimed and Daryl just smirked at me, his crossbow resting on his shoulder.

"Thought you was supposed to be on watch?"

"Man you don't make a sound as you prowl. Are you a dancer or something Mr. Twinkle Toes?" I smirked in retaliation for him scaring the crap out of me and he scowled,

"Hell no I ain't no dancer. I'm a hunter, can't go stompin around if ya actually want to catch somethin."

"A little late out for that isn't it?"

"Came to see why you weren't at yer post," He looked pointedly at me.

"I haven't done a night watch before but I know I will fall asleep just sitting in one place so I thought I would walk around the parameter," I shrugged. I started to walk again and he just silently followed suit.

"I'm surprised yall made it this long with no night watch," He scoffed.

"Oh yeah cause having someone stay up to watch nothing all night is such a worthwhile use of time," I said sarcastically, "Plus between the five of us it wouldn't have worked so well."

"Suppose so," He reluctantly admitted. I sneezed again for like the billionth time in the last couple of days, usually there was only one thing that would keep me sneezing all day.

"Bless ya," He muttered.

"Thanks. Hey weird question but by chance do any of you guys have a cat stashed away somewhere that I haven't seen?" I was allergic to cats, which was fine with me since I hated them anyways. On the plus side I guess I would never become the crazy cat lady. He snorted,  
"Hell if we had one, the chinaman woulda cooked it by now." Shocked slightly at the racist comment Daryl just made, I burst out laughing. He turned to give me a funny look.

"That's just so," I said through peals of laughter, "Racist."

"If it's so racist, why ya laughin?" He asked but I could he was grinning slightly. I wiped the tears from my eyes,  
"As you may have noticed, I have this bad habit of laughing at inappropriate times." He grunted in response, no doubt remembering my outburst in the woods.

"Sooo speaking of 'chinaman', Glenn told me your guy's story, so to speak," I looked at him to gauge his response. His eyes narrowed,

"That guy can never keep his mouth shut. What of it?"

"Oh nothing really it's just that I'm having a hard time with the fact that Rick killed some guy named Shane," I said trying to sound nonchalant but not quite managing.

"Rick's the leader of our group and he's done good by me."

"But he killed a person, not a walker," I emphasized. Daryl took a moment before he responded.

"Shane was goin crazy, he had just killed Randal and Otis before that, would've killed Rick too. Rick was just lookin out for the group."

I didn't really know Daryl all that well, so I wasn't exactly sure how to take his opinion of Rick. He could be a killer in his own right for all I knew but something is the way he spoke made me feel like I could trust his judgment.

"I didn't mean to bash Rick or anything. He nice and seems like an upstanding guy, that's why I was so shocked with what Glenn had said," I shrugged.

"Yall know he's married right?" Daryl gave me a peculiar look that I couldn't quite place.

"Why is that everyone's first assumption? That I am out to steal men from their wives in the night!" I stomped further ahead angrily. I could hear him chuckle behind me.

"I like Glenn as well, you gunna accuse me of trying to steal him away from Maggie too?" I asked still pissed.

"Relax woman, I didn't mean it like that," He said holding his hand up. I raised an eyebrow,

"Really then what did you mean by it then?"

"Jesus, I dunno. You woman always over think things," He mumbled. I rolled my eyes, a sexist comment from Daryl, I was shocked I tell you, shocked!

"And no I'm not crushing on Rick or anything," I sent him a slanted glance, "Actually I owe him, he saved my ass from a walker the other day at the farm." He stopped mid-stride and turned to me,

"What?"

"You didn't hear?" He just looked at me, "With this group I'm surprised you haven't heard all the gossip." Daryl just snorted,

"Not one for _gossip._"

"What?" I asked in mock surprise, "But you're such a people person." He just scowled at my grinning face.

"Well get on with it. I ain't got all night."

"Remember your comment on how bad I smelled when we got back?" He just nodded waiting for me to continue, "Well a walker had knocked me over in Hershel's cellar along with the shelf holding the various nasty jars. Rick pulled the thing off me and killed it before it had a chance to turn me into a manwich." Daryl cracked a grin at that but it quickly faded,

"Ya shouldn't of gone, it coulda been a lot worse." I frowned at that,

"Geez you sound like Taylor."

"The hell I sound like that fool!" He growled.

"I'll have you know I did my fair share of saving damsels in distress on the farm," I pointed out.

"Damn chinaman can't keep outta trouble." I chuckled and rolled my eyes,

"Not _Glenn, _Maggie. She got herself overrun by a group of them."

We talked a bit more about the farm trip as we walked the parameter; well I supplied most of the talking I guess. He did tell me about his brother Merle and how they left him to cut of his own hand on a rooftop in Atlanta.

"Holy shit, that's like something out of Saw!" I exclaimed, how someone could _saw _off their own body part is beyond me. He looked at me confused,

"Saw? What's that?"

"You've never seen Saw?" I asked incredulous, "_Wanna play a game?_" I mimicked the voice.

"What the hell does that have ta do with Merle?"

"Well it's a horror movie where the killer chains two guys up in the basement. He sort of pits them against one another and in the end the one guy cuts off his own foot off with a rusty handsaw to get away."

"Did the guy get away?" He asked interested. I grimaced at that, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the movie.

"Like I said it _is_ a horror movie; you really want me to tell you how it ends?" He looked away at my response.

"That won't happen to Merle, he's one tough sumbitch," He said determinedly.

"I'm sure it won't. He cut off his own hand, then cauterized it and according to you stole your truck, hell at this point I'm rooting for the guy," I shook my head, if that had been me I'd probably still be sitting chained to the roof top. Daryl just grunted in response.

* * *

Had this girl actually met Merle, I'm sure she'd be singin a different tune right now. I didn't know what ta think of her and her odd sense of humor and weird habit of laughin at every damn thing she shouldn't. When she said she had almost been made walker food, she brushed it off like it was no big deal, even crackin a joke bout it. Stupid girl shouldn't of gone, she's lucky Rick was there to save her ass. Why was I gettin so angry bout this? If she wanted to go off and get herself killed, that was her problem. I glanced over at her; she had her rifle pulled over her shoulder like freakin Annie Oakley, wearing jeans and a thin jacket. I grudgingly had to admit she was good looking, hell I _was_ a man. Didn't matter though, her type would never go for a Dixon. _Ain't no one ever gunna love ya cept me baby brother_, I scowled at Merles voice ringing in my head.

* * *

I dared a glance over to Daryl to see him scowling. Man that guy has two facial expressions, glaring and scowling. If only he didn't make those faces all the time, he might be kind of, sort of, hot. I guess I was a sucker for blond hair and blues eyes, oh and the muscly arms didn't hurt either. He must have noticed me appraising him because he turned his head to me, blue eyes boring into mine.

"What?" He asked gruffly.

"Nothing," I looked away embarrassed that I had been caught gawking at him. We had finally made our way back around to the camp area outside the cabin and I saw Glenn waiting there to relieve me of my watchdog duties.

"Ah I was worried there for a sec, thought you got eaten my walkers or something," Glenn said as we approached.

"No just walking around so I don't fall asleep," I said and couldn't help but notice Glenn staring wide-eyed behind me at Daryl. At that Daryl said,

"Goin back to my tent." And started to walk off. Once he got far enough I waved and yelled enthusiastically,

"Good night Daryl!" He just plastered that scowl back on his face as he looked back at us glaring daggers at me, man he was so easy to rile up.

"Ah, well, so, uh…" Glenn looked so awkward that I had to laugh.

"Night Glenn," I said still chuckling on my way back to the cabin.

**Yeah so a little Reina/Daryl relationship building right there. I'm always nervous when trying to stick to a pre-made character, let me know if you think I did ok with Daryl or how I should change it to better fit his character. Thanks and please review :)**


	10. Chapter 9

Ch. 9

**Note: Page break means a change in POV to Daryl's**

The next day John and I had a hushed talk about the information we had uncovered.

"Well for one let's not tell the others, we don't wanna worry them for nothin and yall know how Taylor is," I nodded at John's words. Taylor would probably run over there halfcocked and cause a huge scene; he was kind of a hot head.

"I think they should stay," He stated simply.

"I do too," I added, "I wasn't trying to rat them out or anything, it's just that killing someone is pretty serious but I guess that guy Shane didn't really leave Rick much choice."

"It's all a matter of social construction," I looked at John; he sounded like my sociology professor, "See I was in the military and we killed lots of enemies while at war. Had we done that back here, we would have been put in jail rather than been labeled heroes. This new world of kill or be killed changes things, what is considered right and wrong has shifted."

"That's so….philosophical," I grinned at John and he smiled back,

"Well darlin I have lots of life experience to draw from."

"I have a feeling you and that Dale guy will get along well."

"Why cause were both old?"

"Yeah, you can sit around telling back in my day stories," I rolled my eyes and John laughed as he walked away.

I walked up to the fire/camp area, which has basically become the community, rec-center type space. Rick and Daryl were talking, sort of heatedly.

"I don't care Daryl, after everything we've been through I don't think it's a good idea to go off by yourself," Rick said his arms on his hips.

"Rick how many goddamn times have I gone huntin by myself?" Daryl said affronted at Rick's comment.

"Well what about your accident, you almost died! The camp needs you alive," Rick hissed. His commented piqued my interest.

"A hunting accident? Please do tell." I said inserting myself into their not so private conversation. They both turned to look at me.

"Daryl here almost got himself killed while looking for Sophia, the little girl we lost. Came back with an arrow in the side and a bullet graze to the head."

This was news to me, Glenn never mentioned how they lost the little girl or what they did about it. I was kind of shocked; Daryl didn't seem like the type to go wondering around looking for lost children. I guess there definitely was more than meets the eye to this hillbilly.

"Neither' those things were my fault!" Daryl said angrily, "Damn horse bucked me off, down a cliff and that dumb bitch shot me when I came back to camp."

"Some woman shot at you? Now why would she go and do that?" I grinned slightly.

"Andrea thought he was a walker," Rick interjected.

"Good thing she had shit aim," Daryl scoffed.

"Regardless, you shouldn't go out there alone," Rick said with an air of finality.

"He's right you know, especially with all 'accidents' you have," Daryl sent me a narrowed look, "We always go out in two's when we hunt, it's just common sense."

"I don't need no one with me when I'm huntin." I rolled my eyes, he was so stubborn.

"Well what happens when you get _thrown _down another cliff?"

"Ain't gunna happen."

"Would you be willing to go with him?" Rick turned and asked me.

"I don't need no damn babysitter plus she'd just get in m'way," Daryl said his temper returning.

"Excuse me but I've been hunting since I was little, I think I can handle myself pretty well. As I'm sure you recall it was _me _that took down that deer last time," I said glaring at him.

"Either way no one goes anywhere by themselves anymore, you got it?" Rick dictated and Daryl clenched his jaw in frustration. Clearly he had an issue with being told what do to, even when it was for his own good.

"Fine if it hurts your manly pride to have girl show you up," Daryl scoffed at my comment, "Then take someone else, I'm sure Taylor would _love _to go with you." Both Rick and I grinned at the horrified look on Daryl's face.

"Them's the breaks," I shrugged. Daryl huffed and took off towards his tent.

"Glad you guys agree with not going off by yourselves," Rick said.

"It would be pretty foolish not to."

"So yall will go with Daryl?" I made a face,

"I think I can do that but he keeps acting like that I might shoot him too." Rick let out a short laugh,

"Fair enough."

**WDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWD WDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWD**

Later I made the parameter rounds with Mac.

"So since when did you and the hillbilly become _bff's_?" I rolled my eyes. Apparently Daryl didn't play well with others so talking with him was scandalous by camp standards. And Daryl was right, that damn Glenn couldn't keep his mouth shut, he was worse than a gossiping old lady.

"Seriously? First Rick accusations and now Daryl?" I let out a frustrated laugh, "God what is this? Junior high all over again?"

"Naw, once the hair pulling starts _then _its junior high all over again," Mac grinned, "But seriously that redneck?"

"Don't worry your still my number one _besty_," I joked and Mac let out a ridiculous girlie squeal,

"Yay! Do we get those matching bff necklaces or something?"

"No you have to earn those," I grinned back at him.

"Holy shit look!" Mac grabbed me and turned me towards what he was looking at. On the other side of the fence, close to the trees there was a running figure. I squinted to see better, it was Carl with a walker right on his trail.

"Holy shit!" I yelled now desperately sprinting towards him. Surprisingly Mac was able to keep up.

"His mother has one job, one job! Look after her kid and she can't even do that!" Mac huffed beside me. I saw Carl trip on the rough terrain of tree roots along the tree line and the walker catching up. No, no, he's just a kid, this can't happen but there was no way we would reach him in time. I stopped.

"What the hell are you doing?" Mac screamed as he doubled back around.

"Move!" I yelled ripping my rifle of my shoulder and taking the safety off. I cocked it and looked through the scope. We never fired loud weapons on the property in case it attracted unwanted attention but I didn't see any other option. I wasn't the praying type but this felt like the opportune time. _Please don't let me miss, please don't let me miss_.

Carl was crawling backwards from the persistent form of the infected in front of him. I had to hit the walker in the head from this distance if I wanted to stop it; I had never made a shot at this distance before at least not on a moving target. I moved my scope and took aim, letting out a deep breathe. I looked through the scope as I squeezed the trigger, the loud shot reverberating through the whole property. I watched in amazement as the infected's head literally exploded and then its body dropped right where it stood. I looked up from my scope into the equally as shocked face of Mac.

"Damn…." Was all he said and I laughed in shocked delight. I threw myself at Mac hugging him.

"I can't believe I made that shot!"

"I never thought _you'd_ be the one giving the ex-military guy a run for his money for being the best shot!" We separated in time to see the crowd of people running towards us, they must have heard the shot and knew something was up. Carl had gotten up and started to run towards us, still on the opposite side of the fence.

"What happened?" Both John and Rick yelled as they reached us first.

"Carl," I said pointing to the kid who was slowly getting closer. Rick took off towards Carl and Lori followed suit behind him. Rick grabbed Carl into a big hug when he finally reached him, followed by Lori and then they were frisking him for bites or scratches.

"Damn John you should have seen Reina's shot. We got a freaking sniper over here!" Mac exclaimed and I beamed at that. Everyone crowded around us asking, well more demanding to know what happened. It was a gong show with these people, everyone yelling over everyone to get their two cents in.

"Hmm sniper," I mock rubbed my chin, "I like the sound of that."

"Well what happened?" Taylor asked frustrated.

"We were doing our rounds when I spotted Carl being chased by a _geek_ over by the tree line and since there was no way we would reach him in time, our resident sharp shooter here took out the infected from right here." Mac stated. Everyone stared at me and suddenly I felt sort of uncomfortable with my new found title as the group sniper.

"That shot was loud," Taylor frowned.

"He's a kid, what was I supposed to do? Let him become walker chow?" I said angrily to Taylor and he didn't reply.

"God damn woman, maybe ya would be sorta useful huntin," Daryl reluctantly admitted.

"I tried to tell you that earlier," I rolled my eyes. The Grimes family had finally reached us after their reunion.

"Thank you," Carl said running over to me to give me a brief hug.

"No problem little man, that's what were here for," I said grinning down at him.

"Thank you," Lori said, her voice emotional and Rick nodded in thanks.

"I can't believe you hit it in the head from this far away!" Carl said, not the least bit shaken at what had just happened. Man kids were resilient.

"Trust me bud, I'm having a hard time believing it too."

"You gotta show me how to shoot like that!" Carl said and Lori grimaced.

"I can try but it's not up to me bud," I said. He turned his puppy dog eyes on his parents and Lori sent me a pointed look like this was somehow my fault. If anything it was her damn fault, not keeping tabs on her kid.

"Come on you already said I couldn't go huntin, the least you could do is let me learn how to shoot better," He pouted and everyone chuckled at his insolent tone. As we walked back to the camp area, Rick walked up beside me.

"Thank you for saving Carl," He said.

"No problem I owed you after you saved my ass on the farm so I guess were even now," I grinned at him.

"Guess so and that was an amazing shot by the way."

"Thanks," I said kind of embarrassed at all the praise, "It was a lucky shot, chances are I probably won't ever be able to do it again though."

"I dunno, you seem like you have some natural talent there. Your father must have been one hell of a teacher."

"He was the best." I grinned at the mention of my father but like always the happiness I felt at thinking about my family was soon replaced by the sadness of knowing I will probably never see them again.

* * *

I might have ta rethink goin huntin with her, the girl could shoot. I squinted back at the fallen walker, that shot musta been 250-300 yards. If only she would shut the hell up though, I couldn't see her been quite for more than 20 minutes. I looked over at her, walking beside that damn Sheriff again. Lori was givin em the stink eye from behind, seems she wasn't too happy with them talkin. Reina beamed at somethin the lawman said and I couldn't help but feel irritated at the sight. The fact that I was irritated in the first place pissed me off. Why the hell did I care? I didn't. Then the grin on her face faded and she looked away from Rick, sadness plain on her face. What the hell had that damn Sheriff said to her to make her look like that? Again why the hell did I care?

* * *

After we had eaten some supper, everyone was chatting away around the fire, again. This was quickly becoming a routine, stories over a make shift dinner of fire roasted _catch of the day_ and canned beans and fruit. Not that I minded but my thoughts kept drifting back to my family on their own accord. I wondered if they were still alive. Still surviving in the city somewhere, maybe they had gotten lucky and found a refugee center there, well one that hadn't fallen to the infected. Hell if I had made it this far, my Dad must have as well seeing as he was the one who taught me the skills on how to survive in the first place. If my Mother was with him, then I had no doubt he would keep her safe. My train of thought was interrupted by Dale sitting down beside me.

"You look deep in thought and I'm guessing it has nothing to do with Glenn's story about pizza deliveries gone wrong," He smiled gently at me.

"Do you think eventually everything will go back to the way it used to be? I mean clearly not exactly the same but I mean civilization, do you think we can go back?" I asked jumping right into it. Not at all taken back by my sudden question, he took a second to think it over.

"That's a tough question, there are so many possibilities but we can always hope. In the words of Albert Einstein 'I never think about the future. It comes soon enough'," Dale recited. I grinned at that, I had no doubt that Dale and John would get along great.

"You always have a quote on the ready?" I ribbed and he just laughed,

"I suppose I do, I used to do a lot of reading before all this. But now a days my collection is lacking."

"We have some Stephen King books in the cabin," I suggested, "John only brought books out here for entertainment when he used to come out here before the whole apocalypse thing."

"Trust me, that would be a welcome relief," Dale said. He was about to say something else when he stopped and looked up. I shifted to my left a bit to see why he had stopped talking.

"Sorry I uh, didn't mean ta interrupt ya," Daryl said rubbing the back of his neck as he approached us. It wasn't unusual for him to present at these little supper pow-wows but usually he sat on the peripheral and didn't really talk too much.

"You're not interrupting at all," Dale smiled, "Have a seat." He motioned for the spot to my left and Daryl looked awkwardly at it for a second and then sat down. The fire conversation didn't stop but I noticed quite a lot of stares coming from everyone. I guess everyone was shocked that Daryl was putting himself in the middle of everything for once.

"Dale here was just telling me about the horrible selection of reading material you guys have," I said and Dale nodded.

"I've read a couple, they're pretty bad," Daryl admitted.

"Which ones?" I asked.

"Don't remember the names but they had that sci-fi shit it em," He shrugged.

"Ah, I think I know which ones you mean. Those were pretty terrible," Dale chuckled, "Reina said we could raid their book collection."

"It's not much of a collection more like a tribute to Stephen King. John has all the classics; The Shining, IT, Pet Cemetery, Salem's lot, Cujo etc." I grinned, "I've read The Shinning so many times, I have nightmares about those creepy twin girls."

"That the one where the kid says redrum in that messed up voice?" Daryl asked.

"Yep."

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," Dale recited.

"Kind of fitting isn't it?" I grinned at Dale, meaning the saying applied to our new lives. We strive to survive but don't really have any time to relax nowadays.

"I suppose it is," He grinned back. Daryl furrowed his brow as he thought about it.

"Anyways, I decided yall can come huntin with me tomorrow," Daryl said gruffly to me.

"How magnanimous of you," I rolled my eyes and he narrowed his.

"I'm leavin bout 6, that gunna be a problem for you?" He smirked.

"So am I now known as the girl who sleeps in during the freaking apocalypse?" I said irritated.

"Well you know what they say about first impressions, they are hard to change," Dale added.

"Well that definitely makes me feel better," I said sarcastically, "And no 6 won't be a problem. Have to be early if we want to catch game anyways." Daryl just nodded in response.

"Well you guys, good luck on your hunt tomorrow," Dale said.

"I don't need no luck old man," Daryl scoffed but Dale wasn't offended at his words, I guess he was used to the way Daryl spoke.

"Don't worry, _I'll _definitely bring something back," I said and Daryl snorted at my inflection. Dale broke out in a giant grin looking at us. I can't read minds but right then I could venture a guess as to why Dale was grinning.

**Thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all you Canadian readers out there! So what did you think of Reina saving Carl? Do you think Lori should have maybe been watching him? Wondering how their hunting trip will go? I got lots planned for the next chapter mwahaha! Please review and let me know what you guys think.**


	11. Chapter 10

Ch. 10

**Just want to say thanks again to Emberka-2012 for your loyal reviews and to the guest signed in as Nicole (love the name by the way since it also happens to be my name :P) for your fellow Lori bashing reviews! Howdy-doody XD. They make me happy so kept em coming!**

**Note: Page break means a change in POV to Daryl's**

"I swear to god hillbilly, if she doesn't come back it'll be your ass!" Taylor said angrily as he jabbed his finger at Daryl. Ah what a nice start to the day, it wasn't even 6 am yet. I had told my group that I was going hunting with Daryl the night before and as usual only Taylor put up a fuss. He insisted on getting up if only just to yell some more.

"I ain't no damn babysitter!" Daryl yelled back at him.

"Children please!" I yelled at both of them, "I am an adult and I know how to take care of myself out there thank you very much."

"I know, I'd just feel better if I went with you is all," Taylor sighed.

"Well then you want to come too?" I asked and then Daryl interjected,

"Hell no this fool ain't coming." And Taylor scowled,

"Like I'd voluntarily spend more time with this guy." They just glared at each other.

"Ok Taylor, well see you later," I rolled my eyes and threw my pack over my shoulder and picked up my rifle.

"Please be careful," Taylor said to me.

"Always am." He gave me a hug, lingering a bit longer than I was comfortable with. I noticed out of the corner of my eye Daryl scowl and whip his head towards the woods. After that we headed off towards to woods to the east of the cabin. It was an awkward first while, both of us walking in silence.

"Sooo," I said trying to break the silence, "How did you learn how to hunt?" Daryl looked at me and then quickly back to the woods in front of us.

"Why?" He simply asked.

"Just curious."

"Why?"

"I don't know, to get to know you better?"

"Why?"

"I swear to god, you say why one more time and I will smack you," I said briefly closing my eyes in frustration. I saw him smirk at that.

"Kinda taught myself I guess, Merle showed me a few things when he wasn't drinkin and stuff," Daryl shrugged.

"I can't imagine teaching myself that stuff. My dad taught me everything," I said thoughtfully. We chatted some more, well really I talked some more about my family; Daryl didn't say much about his life before all this. I had a normal life growing up, no sob story, no tragedy to speak of so even though I was curious about Daryl, I didn't think my sharing would get him to open up.

"What's with the third degree?" Daryl sighed impatiently.

"Just trying to get to know you better, you know be friends and all," I shrugged non-committedly.

"Why?"

"There's that damn word again," I narrowed my eyes at him, "Well for one thing, because it's just me and you out here hunting, I need to know you will watch my back out here and we live in the same freaking camp and isn't that what normal people do?"

All that wasn't a lie but it wasn't exactly the truth either. I had to admit there was something about this redneck that drew me to him. Maybe it was because we were so different? Not like I would tell him that. If I did, he would most definitely take it the wrong way and avoid me from then on.

"Yer weird."

"I'm weird? Oh that's rich," I rolled my eyes.

"What's that supposed ta mean?" He gave me a pointed look.

"Well aren't you the one who came back one day with a necklace of ears?" He stopped, a shocked look on his face, "Yeah Glenn told me about that."

"Damn chinaman can't keep a damn thing to himself," He muttered.

"Cutting off dead people's ears for jewelry and shooting small animals," I looked at the few squirrels he had caught so far, "Sounds an awful lot like the behavior of a serial killer to me." I burst out laughing at my words and surprisingly Daryl didn't get offended, he actually cracked a grin at my comment. He got this dark glint in his eyes and took a slow step towards me.

"Oh? Ya realize yall are out here _alone _with a possible serial killer right?" He grinned menacingly. If this was anyone else, I probably would have been concerned but I knew Daryl had to have a sense of humor in there somewhere and of course it would be a weird sense of humor.

"Why Daryl, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were flirting with me," I said daintily.

He stopped in his tracks and actually floundered for a couple of seconds, clearly not expecting that reaction. He glared at me then turned on his heel and stomped off in a huff. I had no idea why I liked pressing Daryl's buttons so much, maybe it was because he was so easy to rile up. I started to walk forward but Daryl must have practically ran because I could no longer see him.

"Dammit," I swore to myself as I picked up my pace. I heard some shuffling off in the trees to my left and started to head in that direction. I cautiously ducked around the trees only to find two walkers stumbling around. I froze in my tracks. Damn Daryl for taking off! I wasn't sure I should risk shooting my rifle but I couldn't really pick off the two off them any other way.

The closest one noticed me and started to drag its emancipated body in my direction. I lifted and shot my rifle, the first one going down. The noise from the gun alerted the second one and it too started to come at me. I quickly cocked the rifle again and aimed. Before I had a chance to shoot though the walker dropped, an arrow sticking out of its eye.

"Dammit girl, that shot could be heard for miles!" Daryl said angrily.

"I didn't have much of a choice did I? I thought I had two to take down and you freaking ran off!" I said just as angrily back to him. He walked up to the now still walker and yanked his arrow from its head. I went over to the bodies to get a better look, my anger forgotten; something about them was bothering me.

"Whatcha lookin at?" Daryl asked confused.

"Look at the outfits, they're dressed in city clothes. All the walkers we have seen this far up here have been dressed like they were camping or hunting," I frowned, "And it's always been one at a time, never more."

"So?"

"So that means the infected are probably moving further away, out to the countryside. Probably in search of food since the cities have been decimated." Daryl took in my words and then looked back towards the walkers.

"Shit. Come ta think of it, that night the farm was over run most the walkers were dressed like this too," Daryl said kneeling beside the walker he took down. This didn't bode well for our little cabin/campsite group.

"What should we do?" I asked.

"Nothin we can do cept move on to somewhere else I guess," He shrugged.

"I don't want to leave the cabin though," I frowned at the thought. It had become like a new home and it would suck to have to move to somewhere that may not even exist.

"Didn't wanna leave the farm neither but we didn't have a choice," Daryl said looking up at me. That was not what I had wanted to hear.

"Let's keep moving so we can head back soon hopefully." Daryl got up at my words and we started off again.

Two hours later and we still hadn't found any big game, just some more squirrels and a few rabbits. The infected must have scared off the game or worse, ate it.

"Usually we had come across some deer tracks by now; you think the walkers scared them off?" I asked.

"Probably, we haven't even seen a trail so far," Daryl said quietly, his eyes still glued to forest floor.

"You think this will be enough?" I asked motioning to our _catches of the day_.

"It's gunna have ta be."

"Want to head back to the cabin?" Daryl nodded in response and we started our long trek back.

I didn't know how to tell John about today. He would definitely be concerned over the new city walkers and the lack of big game. We almost always brought back a deer or at least spotted a trail along the way but this time nothing. That meant we would have to make a trip into the city sooner than we thought we would have to. And if we had to leave the cabin where would we go? I panicked at the thought. Perhaps we had gotten too comfortable at the cabin and overestimated the security of the area.

"Why are you so quiet suddenly?" Daryl asked pulling me from my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Ya thinkin bout those walkers back there?" I grunted in response.

"What you ain't talkin now?" He asked irritated. I grunted in response again and Daryl glared at me.

"Annoying isn't it?" I smirked. He just shook his head and kept on walking, muttering something along the lines of _pain in the ass. _

**WDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWD WDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWD**

After another couple of hours we finally had made it back to the camp.

"What no deer?" Mac asked shocked.

"Nope, we have something better for you to clean," I grinned evilly. I took the string off my shoulder and handed in to Mac.

"Rabbits, that's not too bad." I then grabbed the string of squirrels off of Daryl's shoulder. He stiffened at my touch,

"What are ya doin?" He asked irritated.

"We have a rule here, when someone catches something the others have to clean," My grin getting wider at the horrified look on Mac's face as I tossed the squirrels at him. Daryl turned from me and looked at Mac,

"Ya better not mangle them."

"Oh god," Mac grimaced, holding the string of squirrels as far away from himself as he could.

"What boy, you never had squirrel stew before?" Rose smirked at Mac.

"Can't say that I have," He muttered.

"Well you better get started," I said patting Mac on the shoulder as I headed to the cabin for a much needed shower.

We were all busy eating the mix of _meat _when I remembered what I wanted to tell John. I sat myself down beside him.

"The rabbit's good, the squirrel is a bit gamey though," John said stabbing the meat with his fork.

"It's no deer that's for sure," I said, "So today me and Daryl found two walkers together out in the woods." John looked up at me,

"Two at once?" I nodded.

"Yeah and they were dressed in city clothes not camper or hunter gear." John frowned at that, catching on to what I was implying.

"Makes sense, their food supply in the cities have probably run out so they are moving further away to find food," John said.

"That's what I was thinking. You think we will have a repeat here of what happen to these guys on their farm?" I asked.

"It's possible."

"Do you think we will have to leave to find some place more fortifiable?" John sighed,

"I knew we couldn't stay here forever, I'm surprised it worked out this well for this long."

"Where would we go?"

"Dunno darlin, guess we would have to take our chances or go scouting to see if we could find anything," John said rubbing his hand down his face. I didn't really want to ask any more questions, scared of the answers, "We should run this by the others, see if they have any suggestions." I took a mouthful of some sort of meat. I made a face, John was right the squirrel was extremely gamey.

"Whater yall whisperin bout over there?" Rose asked rather loudly, causing everyone to look in our direction. Man she had no subtlety.

"Reina here was just telling me bout her and Daryl's hunting trip. Guess they found a couple of walkers together dressed like city people," John said making sure everyone heard. His statement was met with silence.

"Guess they're spreadin out," Rick muttered, "How far out did you find them?"

"A couple of hours east of here," I said. Rick glowered at my answer.

"They're getting closer Rick," Lori said.

"Oh god, it's gunna be like the farm all over again," Beth said scared, grabbing Hershel's arm.

"What do you think we should do?" Rick asked John.

"Well maybe we should start scouting ahead soon to see if there is anything out there that would offer more security instead of just packing up right away and running off blindly into who knows what," John answered. All around heads nodded.

"That sounds like a good plan John," Rick replied all business like, "Now we need to decide when and who to send."

"I don't think we should do that asap," I interjected and everyone stared at me, "I mean we need to replenish our supplies before we go anywhere. I think we should go on a scavenging trip into the city first so we have more supplies."

"She's right, were down to our last canned goods and essentials," Mac agreed.

"Ok well then we need to make up a group for that first then," Rick said, "Who wants to volunteer?" After the shouting and debating who was going we decided that me, Taylor, Rick, Daryl, Glenn and Maggie would go in a couple of days to the city.

"Why can't I go?" Mac pouted.

"We need more able fighters here at the cabin to help protect it in case infected show up while they are away," John answered.

"Plus it's easier to move through the city with less people," Glenn added.

"Hmph," Mac crossed his arms.

"There, there," I grinned standing up and patting his arm, "We need you to protect the woman folk." Lori snorted at my comment, standing at the other side of the fire.

"You got sumthin ta say skinny?" Rose sneered before I had a chance to say anything.

"Yeah, were not as useless as you think," Lori said looking right at me. Bitch.

"Really? Where were you when your son was being chased by a walker?" I said letting _my_ inner bitch out.

"I was doing all the chores!" She retorted.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't that include looking after your own son?" I said taking a step closer.

"Ok, ok let's all settle down. We're all a little tense right now," Rick interjected standing up.

I noticed Daryl, who was previously just outside the fire area, was now suddenly beside me. He was close enough that ours arms weren't touching but I could feel the heat coming of his body. Daryl wasn't the type to offer comfort or anything so I guess this was his own Daryl way of trying to calm me down and it worked slightly.

"What do _you_ do around here to help out?" Lori continued her rant, insinuating that I didn't pull my weight around here.

"I do a hell of a lot more than _just_ fucking laundry!" I said angrily, "I'm sorry but did you enjoy that meat you were eating? Well it sure as hell didn't appear magically!"

"Please we all know that was Daryl," She scoffed and I was just about to lunge at her when Daryl spoke up,

"All that rabbit yall just enjoyed was caught by her, more than ya ever provided." I wasn't the only one shocked by him coming to my defense, Lori actually stared open mouthed at him, "What?" He asked gruffly, embarrassed by the sudden attention he was receiving.

"Enough!" Rick yelled and I bit my tongue. I actually liked Rick and it wasn't his fault Lori was a bitch, "This is neither the time nor the place." Both Lori and I shut up and just glared at each other.

The rest of our dinner was sort of awkward and mostly filled with concern over the thought that we may eventually be overrun by walkers here too. I just sat and listened to everyone. Some people thought we should take our chances and leave while others thought we should stay here as long as we can. Either way, we were going on that scavenging trip in a few days.

I walked back to the cabin with one thought on my mind. Man I needed a drink. I had a bottle of Jack Daniels left and if we were going into the city I could pick up more, so I didn't have to worry about drinking the last of it. I wasn't a big drinker before the end of the world but it seemed more appealing now a days. Losing yourself for a few hours, forgetting about how everything has gone to shit. And now I had to deal with the bitchy queen of the post-apocalyptic laundry brigade. Yep, I was having that drink.

A quarter of the bottle later, I was feeling pretty good. It was late and almost everyone had gone to bed and I was sitting staring at the fading fire. I wonder if I put my hand into the fire, would it hurt? Ok maybe I was a little drunk. I tried to get up but I fell back on my ass.

"Stupid ground," I mumbled to no one in particular.

"You drunk?" Daryl drawled suddenly beside me, he had a habit of sneaking up on people. I waved the bottle at him,

"Not yet." I took another drink from the bottle and then offered it to him. He eyed it for a second then took a drink himself, as he sat down beside me.

"Didn't peg ya for a drinker," He said passing the bottle back to me.

"I'm not," I took another drink.

"No, definitely not," He smirked at me.

"Well not normally. I find this whole apocalypse thingy goes down a lot smoother with a bottle of Jack," I grinned and Daryl rolled his eyes and held his hand out for the bottle.

"Ya know if this has anythin ta do with what happened earlier, I wouldn't let it bother you. That bitch is always stickin her nose where it don't belong," Daryl said as he took another drink, looking into the fire. I grinned at that, here he was trying to cheer me up in his own awkward Daryl way.

"Why Daryl that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," I grinned at him and he scowled down into the bottle, "Gimme." I wiggled my fingers, telling him to give me back the bottle.

"I think yall have had enough," Daryl smirked taking another drink of my Jack Daniels. I narrowed my eyes.

"So that's how you want to play this? I should warn you I've been told I'm a mean drunk sometimes," I said reaching for the bottle, the grin widening on his face as I missed completely.

"That the best ya got girlie?" He mocked. I shocked both of us, when I jumped at him from my perch on the ground and knocked us both over. I took advantage of his shock to grab the bottle out of his grasp, my drunken reflexes working overtime.

"Ha!" I yelled proudly as I held the bottle up.

"Jesus woman!" Daryl said as he sat back up right.

"Told you not to mess with my Jack," I smirked back at him, taking a drink. We were siting really close now, our arms slightly touching but neither of us moved away. We just sat in comfortable silence sharing the bottle.

"I'm gunna need to pick up some more of this wonderful stuff when we make our trip," I slurred.

"You can't hold yer liquor, can ya city girl?" Daryl shook his head beside me.

"Sorry we can't all be country folks who are used to _Uncle Willy's shine_," I retorted but my slurring kind of ruined the impact and Daryl chuckled.

"Come on, time for you ta get ta sleep," He said hauling me to my feet. I stumbled slightly but managed to hold myself up despite the severe dizziness I was feeling.

"'m ok," I said swatting his hand away.

"Uh-huh," He rolled his eyes but kept hold of me. We walked back (well he walked, I stumbled) to the cabin to find that those fools had already boarded and locked the place up. Rose knew I was out here, damn her! I was about to start slamming on the door when Daryl grabbed my fist.

"It's the middle of the night," He gave me a stern look.

"Those asses deserve it, locking me out…" I muttered drunkenly. Daryl started walking away with me in tow.

"Where we going?" I asked confused. Daryl let out a sigh.

"Looks like yer stayin with me tonight," He said keeping his eyes ahead. I liked where this was going, ok maybe that was the booze talking. I liked Daryl but I barely knew him and he gave no indication that he thought of me like that.

"Oh?" I raised my eyebrow suggestively and he stiffened.

"S'not like that," He grumbled, "Yer drunk."

I pouted at that. Why was I so disappointed? Did I really want the hillbilly like that? Damn you Jack Daniels! Making me all confused. He hauled me to his tent and went in ahead and shuffled some things around. As soon as he let me go I started to sway; ok I'll admit I was pretty drunk and my eyes were starting to close on their own accord.

"You can have that side," He said pointing to the one sleeping bag on the left. He had another one on the right side of the tent, he must have used both of them for a make shift bed. I stumbled to "my side" and collapsed. My booze hazed mind clouding my apparent ability to stay conscious. The last thing I registered was Daryl saying something to me but I couldn't make it out as I faded into darkness.

* * *

Man that girl could not hold her booze. She just passed out right beside me. I don't know why I brought her here, shoulda just left her ass at the cabin door. She was sleeping like the dead, kinda reminded me of when Merle would pass out after drinkin at the bar, cept she didn't snore or reek of booze and smoke. Her face was relaxed and peaceful and I found myself shifting closer. She had passed out on top of the sleeping bag and the temperature was dropping. I felt her arm and it was freezing. Dammit. I moved to her side, pulling my sleeping bag on top of us both. I hesitantly tucked a piece of hair that had fallen in front of her face behind her ear, my fingers lingering. I could imagine just what Merle would say right now, _pussy._ I looked at her again, my face right beside hers.I would never take advantage of a drunk girl, I wasn't Merle. With that thought I closed my eyes and fell asleep to her deep, rhythmic breathing.

* * *

**Soooo how did you like that chapter? Can you tell how much I loathe Lori's character? God I hope the show writers get rid of her! The end was teasing a bit :P but I want Daryl and Reina's "relationship" to develop slowly not just suddenly: ****_I love you, no I love you! _****I feel both my OC and Daryl aren't the type for making fast moves (well at least when sober :P). Let me know what you think so please review :)**


	12. Chapter 11

Ch. 11

I opened my eyes, confusion washing over me. Where the hell was I? This wasn't my bed in the cabin. The next thing I registered was that I had a massive headache and I felt like death warmed over. I looked straight into the sleeping, albeit slightly snoring, face of Daryl. Holy shit. Everything from yesterday came back in a rush. Nothing happened between us, well nothing like that; I was still completely clothed and so was he. During the night he must have moved over and used his sleeping bag to cover us. Doesn't explain his arm though, which was currently draped over me, holding me close to him. On second thought I didn't really mind, I was pretty comfortable and warm.

Of course my hangover was pulling me further out of my sleepy daze and back into reality. God I hope we had some Tylenol left. I breathed deeply and took a minute to really look at him, normally he wouldn't let anyone get this close to him. He looked much younger in his sleep; all the worry lines usually etched in his face from either scowling or glaring were gone. I tentatively reached out to touch his face and he only stirred slightly. I inched closer and stopped myself. Whoa, what the hell was I doing? Geez I was felt like some kind of pervert, touching him in his sleep. I started to giggle at the thought and soon I couldn't control it and I burst out laughing. Daryl's eyes shot open and he blinked a few times still confused from sleep.

"The hell?" He asked sleepily and I chuckled,

"Oh don't mind me sleeping beauty." Daryl snorted at that,

"Hilarious."

Just then the throbbing in my temples came back with a vengeance.

"Ugh." I rolled onto my back and massaged my temples. Daryl's arm and hand had moved from resting on my side and back to laying on my stomach when I shifted. Once he realized this he quickly pulled it back to him, looking kind of embarrassed and a bit guilty.

"Gunna have one hell of a hangover today," He smirked.

"Kill me," I groaned and his grin got bigger.

"Yall will live."

"Sorry for being such a pain," I said and Daryl just shrugged,

"Used ta drunks." I glared at him,

"I am _not _a drunk."

"Sure, sure," He smirked again, "Come on let's get ya some food and aspirin or sumthin."

"Yes please," I said as I sat up, my temples throbbing even worse.

"Don't ya dare hurl in here," Daryl glared at my paling face.

"God I wish I could throw up, might make me feel better," I groaned as I walked out of the tent and breathed in the fresh air. That helped marginally.

I had to admit, me and Daryl emerging from his tent and going to breakfast together would probably not look good. I highly doubt anyone would believe that nothing happened, even though that was the truth. I frowned. Not that I cared what they thought of me but I was in no mood to try to convince them otherwise, I was way to hungover to deal with all their probing. I looked back to see Daryl getting out of the tent and then zipping it up behind him. He caught up to me and we walked over to the fire area. As we approached people actually blatantly started, some staring open mouthed with food still on their forks midair.

"Late night, last night darlin?" Rose smirked from her chair, holding up the empty Jack Daniels bottle.

"Yes, no thanks to you guys for locking me out," I practically growled at her.

"You said she was in your room!" Taylor said angrily at Rose.

"I lied," She grinned, pleased with herself.

"You know what, you're lucky I'm too hungover to retaliate but just you wait," I said menacingly and Rose grinned even bigger. I rubbed my temples.

"Ya want some Tylenol? I have some in my tent," Maggie asked getting up.

"I would _love_ some," I grinned at her following her to her tent.

"So, you and Daryl huh?" Maggie said as soon as we were out of ear shot. I should have known this was a trap! I sighed heavily,

"There's no me and Daryl. I was hammered last night and he let me crash in at the lovely chateau le Daryl since those asses locked me out of the cabin."

"Uh-huh," She said clearly not convinced.

"Whatever, the drugs please," I rolled my eyes. She handed me two and I swallowed them dry.

"I mean Daryl? Don't get me wrong, I have nothin against him but I always thought you and Taylor were sort of together. That's why I told Beth ta back off," Maggie shook her head. I laughed at that,

"Taylor is a pain in the ass and at least Daryl isn't always sticking his nose where it doesn't belong and trying to control everything," I said and as soon as I the words left my lips I realized how they must have sounded to Maggie. She just grinned,

"So you and Daryl _are_ together then?"

"You're not going to let this go are you?" I sighed.

"In case you haven't noticed, it's all we got for entertainment round here," She smiled.

"True but still there is nothing between me and Daryl."

"Do you want there to be?" Maggie asked. Did I? Guess I hadn't thought about it before.

"I dunno, maybe. Were in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, I kind of think romantic relationships are the least of our worries," I said hoping this would pacify her.

"If anything, these sort of times bring people together," She replied.

"Like you and Glenn?" I asked. Maggie smiled warmly at that,

"Yeah, don't know if we woulda met otherwise. But I'm glad we did."

"Honestly I can't really picture you two together otherwise. Nerdy Asian boy meets farm girl, it's like the stuff out of a crappy Nicolas Sparks book," I laughed, "No offense." I added.

"None taken," Maggie laughed as well, "Your one ta talk; city girl, meets southern redneck."

"Touché, farmer's daughter, touché," I narrowed my eyes and started laughing and soon we were giggling so loud I'm sure the others heard us.

"Come on, before the others think I gave ya sumthin other than Tylenol," Maggie said still smiling. We walked back and again I got the group stare as we approached. I sat down on the picnic table beside John and Mac and tried to eat something. I noticed Carol had taken a seat next to Daryl and was talking with him, well more like at him.

"Water?" John asked, pushing a bottle towards me.

"Damn, did you drink that whole bottle last night?" Mac asked bewildered.

"Most of it," I said as I downed the water bottle.

"You should eat sumthin," John said now pushing a plate of food at me. I ate what I could but my stomach started to protest after a while and I pushed the plate from me.

"I can't eat anymore." Silence, "Just spit it out already." I sighed.

"The hillbilly seriously?" Mac said.

"No." That was all I said. John sighed,

"I can't tell ya what ta do but just be careful." He looked so awkward, I had never seen him like this. I grinned evilly.

"Careful? Whatever do you mean?" I asked innocently. John floundered for words,

"I never had a daughter so I guess I'm no good at this but you know, don't get yer heart broken and stuff and if he ever does anything ya don't like, you tell me and I'll set him straight." Mac and I burst out laughing at him and he just shook his head.

"You sound like my dad, all you need was a shotgun in your hands," I smiled, "But seriously though after you guys locked me out," evil stare, "Daryl let me crash in his tent, otherwise you would have woken up to me passed out by the fire probably. That's all that happened."

"You hardly ever drink, did it have something to do with that useless woman?" Mac rolled his eyes, "Geez don't let her get to you, she needs to work on her damn parenting skills before she shoots off her mouth."

"No it wasn't just about her, it's everything. It's a lot to wrap your head around and drinking felt like a good idea last night," I shrugged.

"But not so much this mornin?" John smiled and I nodded my fervent agreement.

Once I had my shower and the Tylenol kicked in, I had started to feel better which I was very grateful for. The next day our scavenging group would leave for the city and we had to plan it out today. I walked up to the group huddled around the map sprawled out on the picnic table and stood beside Daryl.

"Ya feelin better now?" Daryl smirked.

"Much," I said, "So what's the plan chief?" I asked looking at Rick.

"Well we decided that we will take two vehicles since there are six of us going and we want to bring back as much as we possibly can," Rick replied.

"Were takin pop's truck and their SUV thing," Taylor added.

"And we decided on heading to that giant mall off of interstate 75 between Atlanta and Macon _(1),_ since we would probably have better luck there with supplies than in Atlanta," Glenn said pointing to the area on the map. I nodded at his words. Hopefully this would mean less infected but you never know.  
"How far is that from here?" I asked and Glenn frowned,

"Well it depends on how clogged the interstate is with vehicles, we will have to plan out alternate routes in case we can't get through. So it could take anywhere from three to five hours to get there."

"Yay road trip," I said sarcastically.

"I dibs drivin," Taylor smirked at me.

"Whatever makes you happy Taylor," I rolled my eyes, I wanted to wipe that smirk right off his face. Lately Taylor had been getting on my nerves more than usual.

"As long as ya get the truck there in one piece," Daryl quipped and Taylor scowled at him. Before Taylor could give his no doubt witty retort Rick interjected like the good peace keeper he was,  
"Taylor, Reina and I will be taking the truck and Daryl, Glenn and Maggie will take the Hyundai."

"Only if I'm drivin, not lettin no Asian crash the car," Daryl grinned and Glenn just rolled his eyes and Maggie clenched her jaw right beside him. She didn't take to kindly to the ribbings the group gave Glenn even if they didn't really mean it.

"Doesn't matter who drives as long as we all get there. We will need to make sure both vehicles are fully gassed up before we go and that we have a couple of gas canisters for spares," Rick continued.

"There's bound to be some gas stations along the main interstate that we can check out along the way," I added and Rick nodded.

"This will most likely be an overnight trip so pack accordingly," Rick said looking around at everyone.

This would be the first time since we arrived at the cabin that I will have spent a night outside our camp, I felt the apprehension weight down on me. Every time we went on city trips before, we would make sure we stayed close enough so that we could return by nighttime. It was like that first time you stayed away from home as a kid, you were excited and kind of uneasy about it all at the same time.

"Haven't stayed the night away from the cabin since this all started," Taylor added as if reading my mind and I laughed,

"We sound like freaking hermits."

"Ya kinda are," Maggie grinned at me.

"Your one to talk, you stayed sheltered at your farm the whole time," Glenn added and then she punched him in the arm playfully. It couldn't have been that hard of a hit but Glenn rubbed his arm where she hit.

"Ya get used to havin to move around," Daryl said.

"Great, so I get to look forward to being a nomad for the rest of my life," I mumbled.

"At least we all got each other," Rick said.

We finished going through the rest of the nit-picky details. Glenn had been to the mall before so at least one of us had a vague idea of where we were going. Other than that we were mostly going in there blind so I planned to bring as much ammo as I could just in case and my good 'ol trusty bat that I had from day one.

"You think I should bring my rifle?" I asked Daryl as we walked away. Everyone separated to get all their stuff prepared.

"Naw, it's too loud. We want as little attention as possible," He replied, "Ya should just bring those Berretta's yall have with the silencer's on em." I agreed.

"Do you even have a gun?" I asked.

"Course I have a gun," Daryl rolled his eyes.

"Sorry I forgot this was the south again," I grinned and he glared at me.

"Like my crossbow better," He said defensively.

"Yeah but beside it looking totally bad ass," Daryl narrowed his eyes at that, "It's kind of impractical." Daryl scoffed,

"It doesn't make a sound. Kind of _practical _when tryin not to get the geeks attention."

"Agreed but you have to pull the string back to reload after every shot which makes it super inefficient when dealing with a bunch of infected at once and you run out of arrows fast," I added.

"Well I won't be bringin just my crossbow now will I?"

"A good scout is always prepared," I smirked and Daryl just shook his head and walked off to his tent. I went to the cabin and stuffed my bag for our _sleep away camp trip 2012_.

"Wow one bag, I'm impressed. Don't girls usually over pack?" Taylor grinned leaning on the door frame behind me. 

"Wow look at the woman whisperer over here," I rolled my eyes and Taylor laughed.

"You bringin your rifle?" He asked.

"No, too loud." I answered and he nodded.

"Ya nervous?"

"A bit. Aren't you?" I asked.

"Guess so," He shrugged trying to play it off like he wasn't just as concerned as I was.

"So what's with you and the redneck?" Taylor asked trying to sound nonchalant. I evaded his question with one of my own,

"What's with you and Beth? She even eighteen yet?" I smirked at him.

"Ain't nothing goin on with me and her," He glared angrily at me. Hypocrite.

I just wanted to pack in peace so I formulated a plan with a mental smirk. I rifled through my clothing bag and found the two pieces of underwear I was looking for. They were the frilly, lacy, Victoria's Secret kind.

"So what do you think? The black pair or the red pair?" I said smirking holding up both pairs of the frilly underwear. And right on cue Taylor turned beet red and stormed out of the room like the true southern gentleman he supposedly was. I went back to packing with a huge grin plastered on my face.

**_(1)- _****Totally made this up for the purpose of my story.**

**Yeah so this chapter was more of a filler sorry :P Looking forward to their ****_sleep away camp 2012 _****slash mall trip? What do you think of Reina's little joke at the end? If you have any suggestions or ideas you think I should maybe try to add to their trip please do tell! So if you like what your reading please review and if not send a review with what you think I should improve.**

**PS. How excited are you for the season 3 premiere tomorrow? I wish it was Sunday night already!**


	13. Chapter 12

Ch. 12

We had only been in the truck for just over two hours but I was already growing restless. Looking at all the abandoned cars along the road, devoid of any life was very unsettling. It truly was a post-apocalyptic world. A few times we had to stop our convoy to move a vehicle or two out of the way but the interstate proved to be the best route so far. If we could stick to it, we would probably reach the mall under four hour's total. Taylor was driving with Rick riding shotgun and me in the back. I tried to move around and stretch my legs which were getting stiff. It was strange before all this I used to love driving around for hours, now it seemed like a chore.

"Stop kickin my seat," Taylor said turning to glare at me. I smirked and gave his seat a hard kick and he growled a bit. Admittedly I wasn't being very mature but being cooped up in here made me antsy.

"Look," Rick said pointing to the gas station sign poking up the right side of the interstate, "Think we should check it out?"

"Might as well, I need to stretch my legs," I said. Rick radioed the other vehicle following behind us and we veered off the next exit in search of the gas station. We slowed as we approached the pumps at the front. We all looked around searching for any sign of the infected and found none. That didn't always mean there weren't any though.

"Ok Taylor, pull up to the pumps furthest from the doors just in case we need to make a quick getaway," Rick said. We parked in front of one and the others pulled up to the one behind us. I jumped out of the truck, happy to be standing again.

"Ugh," I groaned as I stretched.

"Yall think that big roomy truck is bad? Try drivin in that cramped thing," Daryl said pointing his thumb towards the little crossover.

"True, it could be worse," I grinned.

"Hey the Hyundai is not that bad," Glenn said defensively.

"Well not fer a small guy," Daryl smirked and Glenn shook his head and walked up to the pump and started to hit all the buttons. When the machine didn't react, he crossed his arms in frustration.

"Do pumps even work without electricity?" Taylor asked. I never thought about it before. The last time we got gas, the power grids were still running. We all looked at the offending contraptions as if maybe if we started hard enough they would spring to life.

"Dammit," Rick swore under his breath. I walked over to the raised cement cover that every gas station had and kneeled down beside it.

"What?" Rick asked.

"Isn't this where the trucks pump all the gas when they refill the stations?" I asked. It looked like a manhole cover, "Maybe we could move it and get to the tank below?"

"I dunno. We could try I guess," Rick shrugged, giving our surroundings another look.

"Let's see if we can find anything inside to help us move the lid," Maggie said starting over towards the small building.

Other than the paint fading from all the weather and neglect, the building still seemed to be in good shape. No windows were broken and the door wasn't hanging open, that was a good sign right? Maybe no one had looted the place yet. We all walked cautiously up to the front, barely daring to breathe for fear of making noise. Rick held up his hand and we stopped. He walked up to the front door and tried the handle. The door came away from the frame without problem and Rick tore it open the rest of the way, using one of the full washer fluid bottles to keep it open. He whistled loudly, backed up and we all waited with our weapons at the ready. A few seconds ticked by then the ragged form of what I'm guessing was the gas station attendant from his grease-stained coveralls, stumbled out the front door drawn by the noise.

"Daryl," Rick said simply and Daryl let one of his bolts fly hitting the infected right in the eye socket. We waited for another minute or two just to make sure no other walkers appeared but none did. Satisfied we all started forward again.

"What kinda name is Macky?" Daryl asked ripping his arrow from "Macky's" eye. I was confused for a second on how Daryl knew his name but then I realized he must have read the walkers coverall name tag that was sewn into the fabric.

The inside was bigger than the outside had let on. There was a whole section of wall coolers that still were intact will all their contents. I opened the one nearest to me and pulled out all the bottled water I could, setting them on the counter. They weren't cold but they were sealed so that should be alright. Daryl and Rick went into the back offices to see if they could find anything else while the rest of us focused on taking whatever we thought we could still use. Luckily gas stations were always filled with preservative pumped junk food so most of the "food" was still good. I went to the tool/auto shelf and found a tire iron. Well that wouldn't help. I put it down as I picked up the crowbar. This might.

"Guys, I found a couple of crowbars," I said holding them up and Glenn took one from me.

"Think this will work?" He asked.

"How should I know?"

"You're the one who suggested it."

"Pfft, like I have a clue what I'm talking about," I said and they chuckled. Rick and Daryl emerged from the offices.

"Nothin back there," Daryl said placing his crossbow on his back once again.

"Reina found us a couple of crowbars. You ready to give this a try?" Maggie asked and we all walked back outside to the manhole gas cover. Daryl took the crowbar from me and Rick took the other from Glenn and started by shoving the bent end under the lid. They strained and grunted with all the force they were putting behind it. Just as I was about to curse myself for thinking of this stupid idea the lid shifted up and they moved it to the side.

"Dammit that bastard was on their good," Daryl huffed. We all looked down, not knowing what to expect. From our limited view through the hole I could only see a part of the silver tank, the part with the sealed top.

"Great," Rick muttered as he stood back up. Now Taylor reached down and tried to turn the red colored handle to pop off the top. Maggie ran back into the store and returned with a wrench. She handed it to Taylor and he nodded setting in on the handle. With that, the handle started to turn and we heard the sound of the airtight container groaning as the pressure was alleviated. We all took a big step back as the overwhelming smell of gasoline nearly gagged us. Through watering eyes I said,

"See what did I tell you?"

We got to work filling the vehicle tanks up then the canisters we had brought with us plus the other gas cans we had found in the station. We piled them all in the back of John's truck and secured them down. Hopefully if we still had room after our _shopping spree _we could stop here on the way back to pick up more gas.

"I'm glad that turned out to be fruitful," Rick said as he secured the last of the bungee ropes.

"This is definitely a good start," Glenn nodded and we all got back into our vehicles to hit the road again. I opened one of the kit-kat bars I had grabbed and started to eat one of the pieces. It was delicious. It had been quite I while since our junk food had run out and the chocolate was a welcome relief.

"Want a piece?" I offered to the two in the front.

"Thanks," Rick said as he chewed his thoughtfully and Taylor shoved his into his big mouth. An hour and a half later the radio hissed.

"Guys take the next exit," Glenn's voice rose from the walkie. During the trip our convey order had shifted, the little SUV was now leading the way.

The sign at the exit still said the mall was a couple of miles away. It was really out of the way but I guess it was the only place with enough space for the mall. We passed a few walkers along the way down the road off the interstate but they were not a big deal. They chased after us but were quickly left behind as we sped towards the mall. We still had a good amount of daylight left but I'm guessing the mall lights weren't going to be working so we needed all the hours of daylight that we could get.

"Were here," Taylor said slowing down.

The mall was a big two-story building. Big wasn't quite the right word, it was huge. The parking lot outside was empty except for a few abandoned cars and straggling infected. All together this structure must have taken up 3 blocks. There was a giant sign on the end of one side of the building that read _Bob's Sporting Goods Store _which I'm assuming meant guns and outdoor stuff, all of which we needed. Could have used a little more imagination when naming the store though.

"Glenn let's pull up to the front doors," Rick said into the walkie and we followed the Hyundai to the front doors. We turned around the vehicles so that the front ends were facing away from the doors. The few walkers that had been wandering around aimlessly now started towards us. I took the safety off my Beretta and raised it to eye level. I took out the first one and Daryl took out the one right behind it with an arrow. The remaining three were still quite a ways away and I didn't think Daryl's crossbow would reach that far. I took a few steps forward and a hand clamped onto my arm, stopping me in my tracks.

"Whadda think yer doin?" Daryl asked angrily.

"I was thinking of asking them for directions to the nearest Starbucks," I said sarcastically and he glared at me, "I need to get a bit closer if I want to take them out with this gun."

"At least have the sense to say somethin first," Daryl growled.

"Ok. Care to join?" I rolled my eyes and aimed towards the walkers. Thanks to Daryl's little chat, they had now gotten within my range and I took them out in three clean shots. Daryl crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow looking at me strangely,

"Seriously girl, where'd ya learn ta shoot like that?"

"Like I said my Dad was a good teacher," I shrugged, "Plus there has been no shortage of target practice lately."

The front doors were locked which I couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not. Maybe once the infection spread they didn't bother opening up the mall so there would be no one inside but that also meant we had to get in somehow. We all walked in single file around the mall hoping to find a side door or back entrance. Obviously breaking down the front doors would be stupid because that would leave it open to walkers getting in, at least if we had to bust down one metal door we could block it better.

"So anyone ever see Dawn of the Dead?" Glenn asked and I laughed while everyone else glared at him.

"Yeah, the mall didn't work out to well for them in the end did it?" I answered him and then it was my turn to be glared at.

"This isn't the time," Rick said bluntly and Glenn and I shut up. We found a service entrance on the side and it was bolted shut. Glenn raised his shotgun at the door and Rick grabbed his arm.

"No. The sound alone will draw them in for miles," Rick said shaking his head.

"Then what do you suggest officer?" Taylor said sarcastically.

"The roof," Rick said pointing to the ladder the rest of us neglected to notice and Taylor looked away embarrassed. One by one we climbed up to the roof. We had a good view of the area and it seemed quite at the moment, no walkers coming out of the woodworks yet. That's always a good thing.

"Over here," Glenn waved and we all gathered around the door that was labeled stairs. Of course the door was locked but busting down this one would be less worrying since I doubt the infected were able to scale the ladder up here. Rick, in all his wisdom, had brought one of the crowbars along with his bag and used it to pry open the door. The latch flew off and without the bolt holding it in place the door started to open. We all peered down the dark stairwell.

"After you," I muttered to Daryl.

"Chicken," He smirked.

"Yeah I'm not falling for that old reverse psychology trick," I said still looking down into the darkness.

Maggie shuffled through her backpack and produced a flashlight. She handed it to Rick and he sighed leading the way down. As we descended further down, all we could hear was the sound of our feet hitting the metal stairs reverberating off the walls. We reached the door that said floor one and Rick cautiously opened it, peeking his head out.

"Looks clear," He said motioning for us to follow. The roof was covered with many skylights so we didn't have to worry about running around in the dark, well at least not during the day anyways. The halls were empty and the stores still locked up.

"Were gunna need the keys or sumthin," Daryl said as his eyes passed over the barred up stores.

"We should try the security office," Glenn suggested gesturing to the sign pointing us in the direction of the office. There were no walkers visible but we still didn't relax our stance, all our weapons at the ready. Both Maggie and I noticed the giant store sign that read Victoria's Secret with the smaller store beside it that read Pink and we grinned at each other.

"Why does everything say Pink on it when it's not pink?" Glenn asked as he noticed us staring.

"Who cares?" Taylor muttered awkwardly as he passed us and I smirked at him.

"Were definitely comin back here," Maggie said.

"Oh yeah," I replied grinning at Glenn who looked away blushing. The security slash lost and found office was small and of course locked.

"Let me," Daryl said sheathing his crossbow and taking the crowbar from Rick. The door cracked from its frame, revealing a sparsely furniture room. Rick shined the flashlight inside stopping on the large pool of blood on the floor then followed the bloody trail off to the side. Now that our attention was peaked we heard the quiet sounds of a body shuffling around on the other side of the door labeled holding room. How apt.

"Stay here," Rick said and motioned for Daryl to follow him. With both their weapons raised they slowly turned the knob to the other room. The figure on the other side threw itself towards the door, slamming it shut again. It loudly snarled on the other side, worked up at the thought of a meal. Both Rick and Daryl looked at each other as if saying _what now? _Through the frosted window you could see the outline off the infected.

"Move," I said as I walked up to them and they shifted to the sides of the door. I lifted my gun to the window aiming at the outline of the head then covered my eyes as I squeezed the trigger. The silencer muted the gun shot but not the sound of the glass breaking, which seemed quite loud in this small space. Daryl moved back to in front of the door and looked through the now open window. He looked back at me and nodded,

"Got em." Just to be sure Rick opened the door and looked around inside the small holding room.

"Jesus," Rick said stepping back out. Daryl and I looked in to see the remains of what was once a human but now was no more than a hollowed carcass. The infected we shot must have been working on this guy for a while.

"That explains all the blood," Daryl said stepping around the walker I shot and all the glass. As he got closer the head, which was still intact, it started to move.

"Oh god," I said disgusted that the thing was still kicking even though it defied all laws of nature.

Daryl just regarded it coldly and gave it a shot to the head. He kneeled down to the other infected that was still relatively human shaped and un-hooked the ring of keys from the things belt. I was glad Daryl did it because I really didn't want to have to touch the walker, I was half expecting it to jump up at any minute after the ones head came to life. I guess the only true cure was a shot to the head. Maggie's voice rang out, stopping my trail of morbid thoughts.

"I can't find any keys," She said from behind us and Daryl jingled the keys as he held them up for the others to see.

"Eww they're all bloody," Glenn wrinkled his nose and Daryl shook them towards Glenn sending some blood droplets flying towards him. Glenn jumped out of the line of fire and sent Daryl an evil glare to which he just smirked.

"Alright let's see if these are the ones we need," Rick said leading us out of the office, Glenn staying as far away from Daryl as he could manage.

**So what did you think of the start of their trip?** **Like my little Dawn of the Dead reference there? I'd like to hear your thoughts on what you think, so if you wouldn't mind hitting that little ol' review button, I would really appreciate it. More reviews=more motivation :) **

**PS. What did you think of the season three premiere? You as sad as I am with the hinting towards a Carol/Daryl relationship? Daryl should be with someone more badass, no offense to the people who like the Daryl/Carol pairing.**


	14. Chapter 13

Ch. 13

Our luck continued as the keys proved to be the ones we needed. The larger silver one unlocked the barred gates in front of the stores and the other keys opened up the ones that just had locked glass doors. We decided we should hit up the sporting goods store first and once we gathered the essentials we would branch off and find anything else we might need. There was a small supermarket type store which was still fully stocked, except for the perishables which had long passed their expiration date. That would be next after the sporting goods store. Bob's Sporting Goods Store had the biggest entrance and it took all of us to unlock and lift up the metal barred gates.

"Remember ammo, guns and camping gear first and then we can look around after," Rick said. We split up in twos; Glenn and Maggie, Rick and Daryl, Taylor and I. We made a beeline towards the gun section which was located at the far wall.

"You see any 9mm ammo?" I asked Taylor as we scouted the shelves.

"Here," He said motioning me over. Since that was a common ammo size, the shelves were stocked full of it. Together we cleaned out the 9mm display along with the rifle bullet sizes and the various other types we needed.

"Think we should grab some extra pistols and rifles?" I asked.

"Couldn't hurt," Taylor shrugged. Between the two of us we lugged the full bags back to the front of the store to the designated drop off zone.

"This reminds of that second day when we found that store Mac told us about," I said reminiscing, man that felt like ages ago, "What did he say? We looked like something out of a Stallone movie?" Both Taylor and I chuckled at that.

"Well then I distinctly remember a small Spanish woman threaten us with a gun," Taylor said.

"Rose hasn't changed at all has she?" I chuckled.

"Nope still surly as ever," Taylor grinned. Glenn and Maggie came up to us and unloaded the camping gear they had found.

"Hey can you two help us gather the rest?" Maggie asked and we followed her to the camping section. Together we decided a few tents could be replaced so we grabbed the best ones we could find and the other random camping items. By the time we were done, there was a small mountain of items gathered by the store entrance.

"Good thing we brought two vehicles," I said looking at the pile of stuff, "We aren't even done yet."

"Maybe we will have to hotwire us another car to fit more stuff in," Glenn said almost hopefully.

"You guys done?" Rick asked as him and Daryl approached us. They were both lugging giant over stuffed bags.

"Yeah, you?" I asked and they nodded.

"Alright let's try out the small supermarket and see if we can salvage some of the food," Rick said adding his bag to the giant pile.

"Maybe we should move some of this stuff to the vehicles tonight. Make it easier for us tomorrow," Taylor suggested.

"Ok how should we do it?" Maggie asked.

"We got the keys don't we?" Daryl piped up, "Let's go right out the front door."

"That's gunna be like 80 trips!" Glenn muttered.

"You know they had shopping carts in there," I pointed towards the sporting goods store.

We managed to fit all the stuff into four shopping carts and wheeled them over to the front doors. It was starting to get dark outside and everything casted a shadow, the cars, the poles, the trees surrounding the parking lot. It gave everything a sinister look to it. Daryl moved to the doors and went through the keys to see which ones fit the front door. The third key he tired produced the clicking sound and the lock unlatched.

"Come on," Daryl said to me since I had the other quiet weapon and we stepped outside the doors. We circled around the vehicles to make sure no infected had wandered over, all that was out there was the fallen bodies from earlier.

"S'all clear," Daryl said and the others wheeled out the carts and we made quick work of loading everything in. The bigger things like the tents where put into the back of the truck while the smaller mesh bags were stuffed into the small SUV.

"We might have ta do some re-arranging tomorrow," Maggie said closing the hatch on the Hyundai. We went back inside without incident and Daryl relocked the front doors before we headed back to the food store.

"Oh my god!" I gasped.

"What?" Daryl rushed up behind me; I hadn't realized someone was nearby.

"They have the frosted strawberry Poptarts," I said grabbing the two boxes off the shelf and putting them in my cart.

"Dammit girl," Daryl growled at me, "I thought it was sumthin serious."

"It is. They're my favorite," I grinned. He shook his head and threw a couple things into the cart.

"Funions? Really?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"What? They're better than Poptarts," He grumbled.

"Good thing obesity is not really an issue anymore," I said as I looked into our now full cart and Daryl just snorted,

"Obese people wouldn't make it ta far in this world anymore." I grinned at that, remembering my comment to Mac a few months ago.

"Jackpot," I said.

"What?"

"Vitamins." I checked the dates on them and took the ones with the longest date. Daryl just gave me one of his, _are you stupid_ looks.

"What? With the lack of good food we all will be getting scurvy or something," I said in response to his pointed look, "Here." I handed him a bottle.

"Flintstone's?" He glared at the bottle, "What the hell is that?"

"You've never had Flintstone's vitamins as a child before?" I asked in disbelief and he shook his head, "It's like something every child has to go through." He tossed them into the cart,

"Well I ain't eatin no damn child vitamin's."

"You will be changing your tune when your teeth start falling out due to scurvy because of the lack of proper food," I grinned motioning to the cart full of junk food. Daryl just grunted in response. We finished grabbing what we could and took our cart to the entrance of the small supermarket.

"Looks like the others ain't done yet," Daryl said. I looked up at the sign hanging from the roof.

"Want to see if we can find anything useful in the food court?" I asked pointing to the sign.

"Couldn't hurt," Daryl shrugged and we followed the signs pointing out the food court.

"Man I would _kill _for a big mac," I said wistfully. Daryl snorted,

"Don't think there'll be any of those." We reached the doors leading into the food court, they resembled the front doors. Daryl pulled out the keys and unlocked the glass doors and held them open motioning for me to go through.

"How gentlemanly," I grinned and Daryl rolled his eyes,

"Git yer ass inside."

The inside looked like every food court did. Tables nailed to the floor all over the place with the various restaurants lining the walls around the floor of tables. All the fast-food places had mini-coolers on their front part, mostly still full with water bottles and pop.

"Guess we will have to get all this in here too," I said pointing to one of the coolers and Daryl nodded. We walked around the fake, tacky palm trees placed all over the food court; the taller ones creating a divider behind half the tables. Daryl stopped and I ran straight into him.

"What?" I said looking up at him.

"Go back now!" He said whirling around, shoving me forward.

I heard the gurgling and moaning before I saw them. There was a pack of infected that had been hiding behind the stupid fake trees. I ran like Daryl had said but as we zigzagged through all the tables more infected has come out of where ever they were hiding. Most were in dorky fast food uniforms, I guess they must have come in early or stayed late when the infection hit.

"Left!" I yelled and veered to the side looking back to see that Daryl had stopped to fire at some of the closer ones. I whipped out my gun and started to take out as many as I could. I was focusing on the ones that had gotten closer to him so much so that I didn't notice the ones closing in behind me. One got close enough that it managed to make a grab at me. I kicked it as hard as I could, knocking it backwards into the other two and they all went down like a bunch of pins at a bowling alley. I was about to put bullets in their heads but the gun clicked at the lack of bullets in the chamber.

"Shit," I swore to myself as I reached into my shoulder bag for the other fully loaded gun. The three had gotten up by the time my finger reached around the handle of the gun and staggered back to me, not phased in the least. I looked back at Daryl, well to be more specific, back to where Daryl should have been. I panicked and took a step back and ran towards the other side of the food court, further from the doors. The infected weren't all huddled around, feeding at the spot where he used to be so I assumed he was ok.

The hideous fake trees obscured any view I had of the other side of the food court, as I tried to scan for him. Suddenly I lost my footing as my feet scrambled to get purchase on the floor and slammed into the hard linoleum, my breath knocked out. I tried to push myself up only to have my hand slip on whatever it was that caused me to fall in the first place. I looked down at the red that stained my hands realizing that I had fallen into a pool of blood. I retched at the sight, hoping to god it wasn't Daryl's. The three were almost on me as they made up the distance while I scrambled in the blood, giving up and just crawled away as fast as I could.

When I had fallen I had dropped the gun which had skidded over to a set of tables up against the wall. I scrambled to it, still crawling, my legs and hands slipping all over the place thanks to the blood I was covered in. I could hear the three snarling behind me as I dove under the table to get the gun. They neared the table and dread settled in my stomach. I had just effectively trapped myself, my back now pressed up against the wall. One dropped and reached under the table at me. I put the barrel right against its forehead and pulled the trigger. Brain matter flew out of both sides of the bullet wound and the thing slumped down with a thud.

The second one had managed to trip itself on the first ones legs that were sticking out from under the table, hitting the ground hard. I aimed at its snapping face and shot it at point blank rang. While that was happening the third one had managed to climb underneath the table fast. It didn't look to be in as bad of shape as the other two had; no missing limbs or bite chunks taken out of it. It grabbed at my leg pulling itself to me and the blood soaking my clothes made it easy for me to slip forward at its insistent pulling. I screamed as I used the butt of the gun to bash its head but it just snarled and snapped in spite of the brain damage I was giving it.

Then as suddenly as it had grabbed me, it was gone. It was pulled backwards and I saw a heavy boot come down again and again until the head no longer existed but was just pile of pulp. I sat there for a second to get my bearings and the figure kneeled down. Daryl reached his hand under and I took it and he pulled me to my feet.

"Holy shit," He paled at the sight of me all covered in blood, "You bit?" He frantically checked me over to see if I was bit anywhere, kind of intrusively actually.

"What? You're not even going to buy me dinner first?" Was all I could think to say and Daryl stopped what he was doing; he actually had the good graces to look embarrassed.

"I take it yer fine if yall can be a smart ass," He glared at me, "Why ya covered in blood?"

"Slip and fell into some," My face scrunched up as I looked down at myself. I was literally covered in the stuff and I started to giggle and then laugh at the sight I must have been.

"Ya really losin yer mind girl," Daryl said as he rolled his eyes at my outburst of hysterical laughter.

"It's always me," I muttered as I stopped my laughing.

"Well at least ya don't stink as bad as ya did last time," Daryl grinned, "But seriously you ok?" At his concerned look I decided to cut the sarcasm.

"Yeah, no bites or scratches but I think I might have hurt my arm when I landed on it," I said cradling my left arm. It hurt but I knew it wasn't broken; I had been down that road before.

"Let me see," Daryl said checking my arm over, "Ya will be fine, probably some serious bruisin though."

Daryl was still holding my arm and we just stood staring at each other. He moved in closer and moved his hand towards my face. I found myself standing very still, like I didn't want to frighten him away or something. I thought he was going to try to kiss me although admittedly his timing could be better; but he pulled his hand away after touching my hair, dropping something wet sounding to the ground.

"Ya'll got some brains in yer hair," Daryl muttered and I stared down at the grey matter on the floor trying not to throw up and not wanting him to see the disappointment on my face.

"Oh my god! Reina!" Taylor yelled from across the food court as he ran towards us. Daryl dropped his hand that was holding my arm and took a step away, scowling at Taylor as he sprinted towards us. Taylor returned the scowl and ran right up to me,

"Are you ok? What happened?"

"I fine," I said as he tried to check me over. I shoved his shoulders and he stopped.

"You're covered in blood. How can you be ok?" Taylor asked worried.

"It's not mine. I fell in some," I answered and he nodded turning to Daryl.

"Where were you in all this?" Taylor yelled and then turned back to me, "You shouldn't have gone off with this jackass! You could have died!"

"It ain't my fault asshole," Daryl yelled back at him.

"Really? Then where the fuck were ya when this all happened?" Taylor hissed getting in Daryl's face.

"I was tryin to lead the walkers away from her!" Daryl said through gritted teeth, shoving Taylor backwards.

"Hey, hey, you guys stop it!" I said trying to get in between them.

The others had shown up just in time for Taylor to take a swing at Daryl, he dodged it using Taylor's own force to knock him backwards and take a swing of his own. Daryl's fist connected with Taylor's jaw, which just seemed to enrage him further and he lunged at Daryl. Finally the others had reached us, Rick grabbing Taylor and Glenn trying to restrain Daryl.

"Jesus tap dancing Christ. Both of you stop it!" I yelled and everyone turned to me.

"Lord, Reina are you ok?" Maggie said right beside me.

"Yes. It's not my blood," I said turning angrily to the two idiots, "You guys done? Cause I would really like to find some clean clothes and a shower or something to wash myself up." Since I had left my clothes in the truck so that I wouldn't have to lug them around, I would have to hunt down some clean clothes. Good thing we were in a mall.

"Well I don't think ya will have a hard time findin some clean clothes, we are in a mall after all," Maggie smiled mirroring my thoughts, "But the shower might be harder ta find." I groaned at that, the blood was already starting to dry and get sticky on my skin.

**So poor Reina hey? She always manages to get something gross on her. What did you think of the Daryl and Reina scene where he takes the brains from her hair? Daryl's such a tease :P As for the fake trees in the food court, I totally stole that ****_lovely_**** decorating idea from my local mall so they do actually place those things in food courts. **

**So this story is getting a lot of views but not a lot of feedback (Not including those loyal reviewers- you guys are awesome!) Not sure if story is bad *Skeptical Fry Face Meme Here* or people are being lazy lol. Moral of the story is review please! Constructive criticism and suggestions welcome. **


	15. Chapter 14

**So to those who are actually reading this sorry about the wait, flu season sucks. **

Ch. 14

**Notes: Page break means a change in POV to Daryl's**

After our trip to the nearest woman's clothing store, I managed to find some clean clothes. A vee neck t-shirt, boot-cut jeans and a leather jacket later, I was looking for some shoes and found a pair of ankle boots. After Daryl and Taylor had been separated they went off somewhere to cool off and Maggie came with me to hunt down clothes.

"Very trendy," She grinned at my choices.

"As long as it's not red, I'm happy," I sighed looking away from the mirrors not wanting to see what a mess I was.

We walked back to the security office area because in the hallway beside it there was a door labeled employee's only. It turns out it was an employee lounge with couches and their own male and female locker rooms. I was beyond ecstatic to see that the woman locker room had a couple of showers. I ran up to the nearest one and turned the dial. The piping groaned as it sputtered to life, water trickling out.

"Thank god!" I sighed looking up at the ceiling.

I found a couple of clean towels in the lockers and threw my old clothes in the garbage bin. I guess it didn't really matter if we littered anymore but I guess old habits die hard. In the shower, I scrubbed myself till my skin was raw. I watched the blood swirl down the drain as it was washed from my body. There was shampoo and soap in one of the lockers and soon the floral fragrance was over powering the metallic smell of the blood. I washed my hair again for good measure, making sure I got all the brain out. I chuckled to myself at the absurdity of that. Good thing I wasn't scarred for life or anything. I toweled off and put on my new clothes, then attempted to towel dry my hair.

"Ya look better," Maggie said as I came out of the locker room.

"I feel much better too," I said and I noticed Glenn was here now.

"We were going to try to find some place to hole up for the night," Glenn said.

"These couches ain't too bad," Maggie said pushing on the cushions.

"What about one of those home furniture stores we passed?" I asked.

"Yeah I was thinking that to," Glenn nodded, "Lots of beds and couches plus we can pull down the gates behind us once were in to make sure nothing wanders in during the night."

"Sounds good," I said yawning right on cue, "It's been one hell of a day."

"I supposed some of us have had a rougher time today," Maggie said looking at me and I nodded. The three of us walked out and found the other three. Rick had wrangled up Daryl and Taylor, who were studiously ignoring each other's presence.

"Well you look much better," Rick smiled as we approached them.

"Well at least I don't look like Carrie anymore," I grinned back.

Together we all looked for the home store that had the most beds in it. We found a giant one that had one of the huge metal gates barring the front. Daryl opened it with the keys and we managed to lift one section up. We grabbed some food and water and other items we thought we could possibly use to bring inside before we re-closed the gates.

"If anyone's gotta use the bathroom, now would be the time cause once these gates close we ain't opening them till morning," Rick said in his _I'm the boss _voice. Once everyone had "taken care of business" we re-shut the gate, trying to make as little noise as possible. We check the store over, making sure no infected were hiding in or under anything.

"It's like I'm five again and checking under my bed for monsters," Glenn grinned beside me as we leaned down to look under a double bed.

"Well at least it's all clear right?" I said as I pulled myself back up again, "By the way I dibs this bed." I grinned at Glenn and threw my stuff on it.

"Damn, I wanted that one," He muttered walking to the next area that had a bed in it.

The reason I choose this one, aside from it being uber comfy, was that I was the furthest away from the next bed. I was a light sleeper and didn't want to have snoring people right beside me all night. Although at this point I was so exhausted that I might just slip into a coma. I plopped down on the bed.

"Ugh," I groaned into the pillow. The bed was so soft and I had it all to myself.

"You alright?" A gruff voice drawled. I looked to see Daryl standing beside the bed, staring down at me.

"Yeah, just really tired," I said rolling to the side of the bed and daggling my legs over the edge. He looked like he was about to say something but then stopped.

"What Daryl?" I asked closing my eyes briefly. He hesitated and then said,

"I just want ya ta know I didn't leave ya behind, I was tryin to lead the geeks away from ya."

"I never thought that you left me behind. When I looked back and you were gone I thought maybe they got you and I panicked," I said remembering my heart sinking when I turned back and saw Daryl gone, "I'm glad you're ok too." I smiled at him and he smiled back a little,

"Been in worse before." Daryl sat down on the side of the bed beside me.

"And thank for saving me by the way." He just shrugged,

"Was nothin the others wouldn't have done." I yawned again and shrugged back at him,

"Still thanks anyways. Now if you don't mind I'm going to try to get some sleep." I pulled back the covers and tossed off my jacket and boots, sinking in between the sheets, "I can't believe you hit Taylor," I chuckled.

"The fool deserved it," Daryl growled.

"Yeah he kind of did," I agreed and Daryl looked shocked that I had taken his side, "You just gunna sit there like a creeper all night or are you going to lie down?" I pulled back the corner of the sheets, signaling for him to get in and he looked perplexed to say the least. After a moment of indecision Daryl finally took of his boots and set down his crossbow and climbed in beside me. I shuffled over to give him more room; I was lying on my side, him on his back.

"Night," I said as I closed my heavy eyelids.

"Night," He muttered beside me.

* * *

I rolled my head over so that I could see her better. She was already fast asleep, worn out from the long day. Hell we all were but for some reason my thoughts kept racing. When we were surrounded in the food court all I could think was I had ta keep her safe. I ain't never felt that much concern for another human sides Merle. So I ran off, luring the walkers ta me instead of following her. Once I had taken care of the damn geeks and went ta look for her, I realized she was nowhere ta be found. The feeling I had when I saw her covered in blood was…..horrifying, all I could think was I can't lose her too. I shifted slightly to my side and put my arm around her sleeping form. In her sleep she moved closer until she was in the crook of my arm and I tightened it around her, resting my chin on her head that now rested on my shoulder. She smelled good, the scent of blood completely gone. This could only end badly if we grew any closer but I found myself unwilling to continue with that thought. What had this crazy girl done ta me?

* * *

I woke up to the scratch of Daryl's stubble on my forehead. I smiled noticing that we had moved in the night so that I was cuddled right to him, although I knew he wouldn't appreciate the term. I just wanted to enjoy it a bit longer so I remained still commanding myself to not burst out laughing like last time. Memories from yesterday started to flood back; the thought of losing Daryl when I looked over and he wasn't there, the most prevalent one. Then when I tripped in the blood, praying that it didn't belong to Daryl. What has this hillbilly done to me? Sure I cared for John, Mac, Rose and even Taylor but nothing compared to the way I felt about Daryl. This worried me because I had no clue if Daryl even thought I was anything more than a nuisance. With him holding me like this it made me feel a bit better, that maybe I meant more to him.

"Ya awake?" Daryl asked, his voice all gravelly from sleep.

"Am now," I grinned into chest. He didn't instantly get up, which surprised me; he just remained in place, letting us lie like that.

"I don't hear the others yet; do you think we should get up?" I asked looking at him.

"Naw," Was all he said and I had the feeling he was just as reluctant as me to move. We laid like that for a bit more until I had to break the silence due to my hunger,

"I could use some breakfast though." I pushed myself up and Daryl removed his arm, sitting up as well.

"Yeah I could use some food to," He said lacing up his boots. I had grabbed a box of the delicious Poptarts before we had locked ourselves in for the night. I rummaged through my bag and pulled them out, hanging one of the foil packets to Daryl.

"Ya couldn't have grabbed sumthin else?" He muttered as he took the packet from me.

"Oh I'm sorry, let's see what you grabbed," I said sarcastically around a mouthful of my Poptart, "Oh wait you didn't grab anything." Daryl narrowed his eyes at me then bit into his Poptart and I grinned at the face he made.

"Ya coulda at least brought the damn cherry ones," He said.

"Bleh, I hate anything cherry flavored," I said starting in on my second "pastry".

"Ya gunna save some for us?" Maggie asked as she walked up to us with Glenn in tow. I handed them the box and they split the rest between them. If they had noticed that Daryl and I had shared the bed last night, they didn't say anything. They just started in on their breakfast.

"Have you seen Rick or Taylor?" I asked.

"Yeah Taylor is still asleep and Rick was just getting up when we did," Glenn answered and right on cue Rick walked around the fake wall to us.

"You guys sleep well?" Rick asked and we all nodded. Glen handed him a Poptart.

"I'll go wake Taylor," I said when I finished my breakfast, "He will sleep through anything." I walked around for a bit finding him asleep on one of the king beds, the sheets everywhere.

"Taylor," I said and he didn't even stir. So I walked up to him and shook him.

"Huh, wha?" He jumped awake, his eyes finally settling on me. He had a bruise forming on his jaw where Daryl had decked him yesterday.

"Oh nice to see your awake," I said and he scowled at me, "Come on, were starting up again."

"I can't believe you took that hillbilly's side over mine," He muttered as he sat up.

"I didn't choose anyone over anyone Taylor. You were being a douche, picking a fight with Daryl," I said angrily back to him. He just grunted and I walked back to the others not wanting this to turn into a fight.

Once we were all assembled we re-opened the shutters and started in on the rest of our scavenging. Maggie and I went back to the woman's clothing stores and tried to take whatever we thought would fit the others. Glenn stayed with us until we decided on heading back to Victoria's Secret, to which he politely excused himself. With our shopping bags in tow, we headed back to the front doors to start piling up our finds.

"Holy shit," I said as I stopped in my tracks and I heard Maggie gasp right beside me.

"What are we gunna do?" She turned wide eyed to me. I didn't respond I just stared into the horde that was surrounding the front doors. Through the glass doors and windows I could see that maybe thirty or more infected had assembled outside. The crowd was so thick that I could hardly see our vehicles.

"We need to go find the others, we can't even get to the cars through this mess," I said trying not to sound panicked but failing miserably. We dropped our bags and ran back into the main part of the mall.

"You go find the others and I'll head to the roof to see if I can spot a way out or something," I said.

"Ok just be careful," Maggie said and I nodded.

This was bad. All of our guns and ammo we had rustled up last night were stowed away in the vehicles so I ran back to the sporting goods store to see if I could find a rifle and some ammo. We only took a couple last night I still managed to find one of the heavier rifles with the giant scope on it, this one could hold thirty rounds before I would have to reload. I scanned the shelves and grabbed the matching bullets and headed to the stairwell. I grunted at the extra weight and awkwardness of the heavy sniper-type rifle as I sprinted up the stairs, by the time I reached the top I was breathing hard. I ran over to the edge and peered down. There was more than I originally assessed, the number was closer to fifty and counting as more came stumbling from the surrounding area.

"Reina!" Rick shouted from the stairwell entrance. They all filed out and ran over to me.

"Were screwed," I said looking at Rick, "Normally I would be worried about making noise but should I try to pick some of them off? We could shoot them from up here."

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice," Rick said yanking his hand through his hair, "Most of our weapons are in the trucks so Glenn, Maggie and I will go grab what we can while Reina, Daryl and Taylor take out what you can with the guns you have." They took off back downstairs and the three of us lined up along the edge of the roof.

"I need better purchase," I said looking around, "A hand please?" I motioned to one of the giant metal storage containers and Daryl helped me up. I laid down on my stomach, positioning the rifle so that I could get at the horde around the vehicles.

"You got better aim so you take out the ones by the cars and we will take out the edges of the crowd," Taylor yelled up at me and I nodded.

I took one shot just so I could feel what the kickback of the rifle would be; it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Lying down with the rifle set up on the ground, helped to absorb some of the impact but I was going to have one hell of a sore shoulder when I was done. I looked through the scope and started to pick off the ones closest to the cars. Soon a small pile of bodies were forming around the vehicles and luckily I hadn't hit either of the cars. Daryl and Taylor were taking down the ones on the edge of the group and racked up a body count of their own. But they just kept on coming, the wave of infected never really ended. I noticed that it seemed like the crowd was moving forward but that didn't make any sense since the doors were blocking them.

"I keep doing this and the wall of bodies will be too hard to drive over," I yelled looking down at the two as dread settled in my stomach. We had to yell at each other just to hear over the loudness of the infected below us.

"We need sumthin to draw them away from the vehicles so we can pick em off somewhere else," Daryl agreed.

"Like a siren or something?" I asked.

"How bout a flare?" Taylor suggested.

"Ya got one on ya?" Daryl said turning his glare on Taylor.

"No but I'm sure that sporting goods store has some," Taylor said glaring right back at him.

"Too bad we didn't think of that before the others left for the store," I muttered. I jumped down from my perch knowing if I piled anymore infected around the cars, we wouldn't be able to move, especially the low to the ground SUV. I left the rifle on the top of the container so that I wouldn't have to lug it back up there when we returned.

"I'm out of ammo anyways so I'll run back," Taylor said holstering his gun.

"Ya me too," Daryl said.

"Ok how about we all go try to find something that makes lots of noise and lots of bright light so we can lure them away from the cars," I said as we made our way back to the stairwell, "We can tell the others along the way too."

"Shouldn't they have been back by now?" Taylor asked and we all stared dumbfounded at each other as his comment sunk in.

"We best get our asses movin," Daryl said taking point as we descended back down the stairs.

**So I can't see Daryl as the type who ever says ****_sorry _****so that was I guess his own type of apology for leaving Reina in the food court, do you think that was something Daryl would say if he felt guilty about leaving her? And a little fluffyness there but again slow moving is more their style so mwahaha! Also life is hectic right now and will be for a while so I am not sure when the next update will be but a little motivation goes along way so review please ;)**


	16. Chapter 15

Ch. 15

**Page Break means change in POV to Daryl's**

I heard lots of noise on the other side of the door so I took out my pistol checking to make sure it was fully loaded. Daryl turned to us and put his finger to his lips saying _be quiet. _He slowly opened the door and we peered out. I guess this explained why it seemed like the horde was moving forward. The front doors were shattered and the infected were crawling through, a constant wave of them passing right in front of us, on the other side of the hallway. Through all the noise the infected made and the sound of gunfire we hadn't heard the glass break. I looked up at Daryl and saw the panic on his face.

"Here's what were gunna do: Were gunna follow this side of the hallway and make a run for the sporting goods store," Daryl said quickly, "We need ta find the others and still need ta find something ta distract the damn walkers."

"We will never make it back to this stairwell though," I said.

"Me and Rick found an emergency exit in the back of the store. We can go out that way, set off our distraction and run back round to the cars," Daryl answered.

"It's a suicide run," Taylor said and for once I agreed with him.

"You got a better idea?" Daryl turned to Taylor.

"Hey I've seen worse crowds. You ever try shopping on December 24th?" They both just stared at me, my joke falling flat, "Wow what a terrific audience," I muttered.

"We ain't got all day so let's move," Daryl said taking point and rushing out of the stairwell.

The horde was on the opposite side of the main mall corridor so we were able to move quicker than I thought we would. But of course it couldn't last as some of the walkers clued into our presence and started to shift over to our side.

"Run!" Daryl yelled and we started to sprint. Daryl had used all his ammo and arrows so he was using his crossbow as a make-shift club. I lifted up my Berretta and started to take out the closer ones.

"I'll take point," I said maneuvering around Daryl till I was in the lead.

We started moving forward again and I was able to keep the closer ones in front of us at bay with my pistol. I stopped and checked behind me to see how Daryl and Taylor were doing but a wall of infected had separated me from them. They were armed only with their empty weapons so they had to use melee to keep the infected at bay, which was slow going. I shot until the magazine emptied and Daryl yelled over the horde,

"Keep goin, we'll head round the other way." I saw them double back and take the other corridor that circled around to the other end of the mall. Most of the horde followed them however a bunch decided I was an easier target, coming at me full force.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I muttered harshly under my breath.

I felt like an ass just turning heel and running but I had no choice so I took off as fast as I could. I didn't have any more bullets so I was completely screwed. As I ran I tried to scan for something to use as a melee weapon but it had looked like my luck had run out. So I kept running, dodging the grasping hands and arms of the walkers that had gotten to close. One managed to grab my jacket and I had to kick it with all my force just to dislodge it. The force I used caused me to lose my balance and stumble into the wall, hitting my temple hard.

"Ugh," I groaned as I touched my temple.

That was going to leave a nice bump. I staggered for a few steps until I regained my composure. I ducked, quickly moving out of the way of a tall, line-backer type walker's grabbing hands. It tripped over me, going down and rolling. Running I looked back to see that the giant infected that had fallen managed to take down more as they all tumbled on its massive form.

"Don't panic, don't panic," I muttered trying to calm my nerves but the constant sound of the growling and moaning around me was making that difficult. As I rounded the corner I was suddenly grabbed, a hand covering my mouth stifling my scream.

"Reina it's just me!" Rick whispered and I relaxed somewhat. The adrenaline in my system was causing the blood to pump in my ears, muffling all the sounds around us.

"Where are Glenn and Maggie? Why aren't you at the sporting goods store?" The questions flying from my mouth.

"We grabbed some guns but when we tried to head back to the stairwell we ran straight into the horde," Rick said quickly, "Where's Daryl and Taylor?"

"We got separated, they went around the other hallway to get to the store," I said.

"Glenn and Maggie went around that way thinkin it would be clear, guess they'll run into Daryl and Taylor. Come on, let's head back to the store," Rick said ushering me to follow.

"I'm completely out of ammo by the way," I said and Rick handed me the pistol he was packing and held up the axe he had in his hand.

"Here you take the gun."

I simply nodded and continued following Rick. He took out the ones right in front of us while I focused on the ones that were closing in from the side. With the store in sight, we sprinted the rest of the way, dodging in and out of the reaching hands of the walkers.

"We need to pull down these gates!" I yelled to Rick.

The big mall entrance to the store had three sections of the barred gates to cover the expansive opening. Rick and I grabbed the first set and yanked them down as hard as we could. The gate landed with a loud crash, causing the infected to move faster towards the noise. Quickly we grabbed middle set and yanked them down. By the time it hit the ground, a bunch of infected had gotten too close. Rick swung his axe while I took aim and shot out the ones closest to us that Rick wasn't going for.

"We can't close this last set; the others won't be able to get in!" I said to Rick.

"Let's move inside," Rick said. We hurried through the narrow opening into the store. I grabbed one of the shopping carts and wheeled it to the entrance and flipped it onto its side.

"If we drop the gate on this, do you think the others will be able to crawl through?" I asked.

"God I hope so, we gotta stop the walkers from gettin in here," Rick said as he grabbed the last gate and we yanked it down.

This time the sound was louder as the metal gate crashed down onto the shopping cart but it held. The space left between the gate and the ground was enough for them to crawl through and luckily the infected hadn't figured that out as they banged on the gates.

"What do we do when the others get here? Clear a path on this side?" I practically yelled, the sound of the infected and the banging on the gates made a deafening noise. Rick yanked his hand through his hair while he paced back and forth.

"Let's grab some more ammo and we can shoot out the ones huddled around this gate when the others arrive," Rick said. So we ran to the gun and ammo section to find what we could. I picked up two pistols and shoved a full clip into both, making sure to grab extras.

"Hey Daryl said we should try using something for a distraction to get the walkers attention, like a siren or a flare," I said to Rick, "Did you happen to find any?"

"I think they were back here," He said turning and heading into one of the isles.

There was a bunch of flares, I grabbed a handful and stuffed them into my bag. As I turned to leave something caught my eye. There was a display off bullhorns, which I don't think I have ever been so happy to see.

"Looks like we found our noise," I grinned grabbing two bottles.

"But someone has to hold down the handle for it to go off," Rick pointed out and I frowned trying to come up with a different idea.

"We could duct tape the handle down or something _(1)_," I suggested and Rick nodded.

"I think there was some at the front isles."

So we ran back to the front and took a roll of duct tape for our makeshift sirens. The infected were still gathered around the gates, banging on them not realizing that they couldn't get through. I don't think our group had ever been this far up shit creek before; the other four were still in the crowds somewhere and a wall of infected was blocking them from getting in the store.

"We should try setting our distraction off further into the mall so the walkers are lured away from the entrance," I said and Rick frowned.

"Here hand the stuff to me," He held out his hand.

"I can go."

"No you can shoot and keep them away from me while I run and set it off," Rick said shoving a flare into his pocket.

"I think we should both go. Once you get further into the mall I won't be able to watch your back from here," I pointed out. Rick looked like he wanted to argue but I cut him off,

"I suggested it and I'm not letting you run off out there by yourself."

Rick always took on to much responsibility; he needed to learn to share it with everyone else, maybe then he wouldn't be wound so tight. I put the bullhorn and tape in my pack and lifted up one off my pistols handing the other to Rick. He accepted it and shoved into the back of his pants. We walked up to the horde at the gate and with the giant hunting knives we had found we started to take out the ones with their faces pressed against the gates. The first one I stabbed, the knife went through its eyes coming out with disgusting sucking sound as it dropped to the ground. Another walker was all too happy to take its place, its fingers latching onto the gates and its teeth snapping at me.

"Rick this isn't going to work. We should just shoot the ones by the left gate and crawl under and make our run for it," I said to him.

He nodded and we moved over to the gates on the left and started to focus solely on those infected. I was still shooting when Rick ducked down and shoved some of the pilling bodies out of the way so we could crawl through.

"You ready?" He turned to me.

"As I'll ever be I guess," And we crawled underneath the gate to the waiting crowd.

* * *

I couldn't believe we just left her there, luckily though more of the infected had decided to follow us than her.

"I can't believe we just up and left her by herself," Taylor scowled and I glared at him,

"Didn't have no choice!"

If it was up ta me, Reina would be the one here with me not this asshole. I swung my crossbow at the walker trying ta sink its teeth into me, knocking it to the ground. When it tried to get up I stomped on its head.

"Take that ya sumbitch," I muttered. We rounded the bend in the corridor to come face ta face with the chinaman and his girlfriend.

"Holy shit!" The chinaman yelled as he grabbed at Maggie.

"Whatcha doin on this side?" I almost yelled. I was hopin they had gone back the other way and would have run into Reina.

"The hallway is over-run so we came this way to get you guys and Rick went through the other way," Glen said panicked.

"Where's Reina?" Maggie said her eyes darting in between the asshole and me.

"We got separated and she went around the other way," The idiot spoke up, looking guilty.

Well now ya know how it feels. This didn't make me feel any better though, I still felt guilty bout leavin her again. Seems I couldn't make the right decision when she is involved, which pissed me off.

"Come on, we gotta keep movin," I prompted and we headed back in the direction the other two had come from, right into another crowd of walkers.

"How did you get through that?" Taylor asked accusingly.

"They weren't there before!" Maggie yelled, her voice goin even more high-pitched.

"Musta made it through the whole other hallway," I said not liking how that fared for Reina.

"Over here!" Glenn yelled motioning to the service entrance. I had ta give it ta the chinaman, he always managed ta find an escape route.

"It's locked," I growled as I yanked on the handle.

Maggie handed me her pistol and they backed up when I leveled it to the lock. The shot rang out, the handle and lock hanging off the door. We rushed inside and closed the door behind us, Taylor and me holding the door while the walkers pushed on it from the other side.

"We are so up shit creek right now!" Glenn yelled. I was about to tell him to shut the hell up when a loud horn sounded.

"What is that?" Maggie asked confused. Taylor looked at me with a stupid grin on his face.

"Reina," Was all I said and I had never felt such a rush of instant relief before.

She was alive and setting off a distraction, possibly saving our asses. Almost instantly the walkers on the other side of the door stopped and most likely started off towards the noise. After a few breaths, I opened the door a crack to look out. All the walkers were going towards the loud horn, giving up on gettin ta us, even the ones that passed right by the door paid us no mind.

"Holy shit its working!" Taylor said.

"Let's move," I ordered, opening the door.

"Look, the walkers aren't even paying any attention to us," Maggie pointed out as we went around them. They were too focused on the loud noise.

"I've don't think I will ever be so happy to go deaf," Glenn yelled to emphasize his words and I told him ta quit his hollerin.

* * *

After Rick and I set off the flare and bullhorn, we ran back to the store. The infected were instantly drawn to the sound and light. None of them even so much as looked at us as we ran back.

"Well that worked out better than planned," I grinned and Rick actually gave me a small smile in response.

The entrance to the store was no longer hounded by infected, all that lay in front were the ones Rick and I had taken out. Right as we dived underneath the gates, we saw the others round the corner.

"Look!" I yelled to Rick. The others followed suit and went under the gates. We all kind of stood staring at each other for a moment before we started to laugh. Maggie ran up and gave me a hug followed by Glenn.

"What happened to your head?" Glenn asked touching the goose egg on my temple.

"Yes please keep poking at it, that will make it better," I grinned swatting his hand away, "I had an altercation with the wall, that's all." Everyone chuckled then Daryl even moved in to give me a quick one armed hug,

"How the hell did ya pull that diversion off?" He looked impressed.

"Rick and I MacGyvered us one," I grinned giving him a half hug back. I never had been so relieved to see someone before; hell I was even happy to see Taylor.

"I guess we should stock up on flares and bullhorns while were here," Rick said.

"Guess that's where the smoke was comin from, I thought you set a fire or somethin," Daryl said, "Worked well though. Those bastards didn't pay us no mind once that horn sounded."

Everyone nodded, excited that we had something that would distract them so well. Taylor grinned at me and pulled me in for a hug.

"You totally saved our asses," He said still hugging me.

"Well you guys came up with a good idea I guess," I replied.

I pulled away and he turned to join in the others hurried plan making. The other's voices faded out as my breathing picked up pace, I froze looking down at my hand. Oh god, please not after everything. It was spotted with fresh blood and it wasn't mine.

**So to those who actually are reading this story, I'm sorry about the lack of updates. Hopefully I will be writing more, now that midterms and all my papers are out of the way. **

_**(1)- Stole that idea from this low-budget zombie movie I watched. **_

**What did you think of their MacGyver distraction? Well in case of the zombie apocalypse, I guess I know what I am stocking up on :P So my Daryl POV was not the same this time, what did you guys think of it? Also what did you think of my little cliff hanger at the end? Duh-duh-duuuhhhh!**

**Review please because it makes me happy thus I write more :) PS: Does anyone know if season 3 of TWD is supposed to have more episodes than season 2? Thanks!**


	17. Chapter 16

**So to those who are reading this story, I am sorry about the mini-hiatus. But the semester is over (Sweet merciful Jesus!) and hopefully I will have more time to write. Although no promises :P**

Ch. 16

**This time a page break means a flashback, NOT a POV change.**

Everyone was still talking in the background as I contemplated what to do. Taylor was bleeding and I had no idea if it was from a walker or not. He had to know and thought he was hiding it. Considering what just happened it seemed more likely than not that is was from a walker. If he was bit, I had no doubt about how it would unfold; the others would want to leave him here or shoot him. I couldn't let that happen, it would destroy John.

So in my moment of indecision I quickly wiped the blood off on my black jacket. I would keep an eye on Taylor and see if he showed any symptoms before I jumped to any conclusion. Panic spread almost as fast as any disease and made people unpredictable.

"Alright so we found out that the distraction works, now we need to set them off outside so we can escape to the vehicles," Rick said, "Everyone grab some bullhorns and flares and we will start this."

At Rick's words everyone took off. I followed Taylor, deciding that I would glue myself to him so I could keep an eye out. I knew this could only end badly but I just couldn't bring myself to say anything because I knew the others would want to leave him here or worse. Daryl noticed me take off with Taylor and scowled. I sent him a tight lipped smile hoping he wouldn't read too much into it. It was no secret the two didn't like each other and Daryl would be the first to act on knowing Taylor was bit.

We grabbed the last of the few bullhorns and some duct tape rolls. I decided that I should probably mention the blood to Taylor.

"Are you bit?" I said straight out. Taylor dropped what he was holding and whirled around on me, his eyes frantic.

"How could you know that?" He whispered as he grabbed my arms.

"You're bleeding," I pointed out and he swore to himself, his grip on my arms tightening.

"I was….scratched while we were running through the horde," He admitted but he still didn't release me, "You can't say anything." He looked so desperate and scared.

"Taylor let go," I said harshly trying to free myself from his grasp.

"What's goin on here?" Daryl said suddenly right behind us, muted anger in his words, "You best let her go." Taylor released his grip on my arms and I took a step back.

"Sorry," Taylor said.

"You ok?" Daryl asked me but his eyes were narrowed on Taylor. I saw the pleading look Taylor sent me and for whatever reason I decided to still keep quiet.

"Yeah I'm fine, I guess were all a little high strung at the moment," I said smoothly.

"Alright," Daryl said not sounding convinced in the least, "Come on were headin ta the back."

Daryl turned and we followed him with all our supplies. Taylor sent me a questioning glance and I just nodded silently back to him. The others were waiting by the back exit that Rick and Daryl had found yesterday, with the rest of the supplies we needed to escape.

"Do you think an alarm will sound if we open this up?" Maggie asked pointing to the door.

"There's no power so I hope not," Rick said, "Either way when I open this door we run, ya got it?" Everyone nodded.

"When do we set the stuff off?" I asked.

"We should set them off right by the back door here so they leave the front of the mall," Daryl said.

"Alright, we will throw them left and go right, around to the front where the cars are," Rick said.

We got our supplies at the ready, Taylor and I with the bullhorns and tape; Maggie and Glenn with the flares. Rick and Daryl had found weapons and ammo and would flank the front and back of the group as we ran.

"Go!" Rick yelled as he swung open the door.

He took out the few walkers that had straggled to the back of the mall while we set off our distraction. For the second time today I was almost made deaf when it all went off. We threw the stuff as hard as we could to the left and then took off in our formation to the right.

As planned the walkers immediately were drawn to the sound and light. The ones that we met paid us no attention on their quest to find the source of the noise. A few that got close enough were quickly put down by either Rick or Daryl. The gun fire didn't even faze the infected through the noise of the horns sounding.

We rounded the side of the mall and had the vehicles in sight. Everyone picked up their pace and soon we surrounded the vehicles. I dove into the trucks passenger side while Taylor took the back. Daryl took the wheel and Rick went with Glenn and Maggie in the SUV.

"Keys," Daryl yelled and Taylor handed them to him without protest from the back seat.

The SUV got started first and we followed it out of the parking lot back to the interstate. I took a quick look back at Taylor. He looked pale and sickly. He let out a low cough and Daryl didn't seem to notice or care, as he kept his eyes peeled to the road. Eventually we approached the gas station we had pilfered on our way to the mall.

"Should we stop and see if we can get more gas?" I asked Daryl.

"Ain't up ta me," He said. When we saw that the others had just sped passed it, we just kept following them.

"Guess not," I muttered.

"I'd say we got enough for a while," Daryl said sparing me a glance. We hit the interstate overpass and we all visibly relaxed, knowing it was clear for the most part.

"Safe to say I still hate malls," I said trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"I thought all girls liked malls," Daryl smirked at me.

"Well Mr. Sexist obviously not," I said. Taylor chuckled in the back which then turned into a wet sounding coughing fit, he sounded like he was having a hard time breathing. Daryl instantly picked up on this.

"Yall weren't sick before," He said narrowing his gaze in the rear view mirror.

"I'm fine," Taylor said and he sounded anything but fine. Daryl looked at me and I guiltily averted my gaze out the window.

"Ya don't sound fine," Daryl almost sneered the last word.

Without warning Daryl slammed on the breaks and we were all jostled in our seats. He but the truck in park and took off out the door. I struggled to unlock my seatbelt and jump out before he could do anything rash. I ran around to the other side and Daryl had pulled Taylor out of the back seat.

"Let go," Taylor hissed as he tried to push Daryl off but he was too weak from the infection now spreading through him to make much of an impact.

"Daryl stop," I said as I put myself between them to split them up.

"You're bit ain't cha?" Daryl growled as he tried to evade the hand I had on his chest.

"Let's talk about this rationally," I hissed at him.

"I was….scratched not bit," Taylor admitted as he coughed some more. Daryl tried to lunge at him but I pushed him back with all my strength.

"Whatever your thinking Daryl, I'm not going to let you do it," I practically spat in his face. He choose to misinterpret my words.

"Ain't that sweet," He glared at me.

"Taylor just get back in the truck," I said and he actually listened for once.

"Over my dead body!" Daryl yelled and I grabbed his arm and pulled him further away from the truck. Once I heard the door slam, I turned to Daryl,

"I know what you're thinking."

"The hell you do," He interrupted me.

"I won't let you kill him," I said crossing my arms and jutting my chin out in defiance. Apparently this was the wrong thing to say as Daryl took a menacing step towards me.

"He ain't comin back with us," He said dangerously low.

"The hell he isn't!" I yelled back. I took a deep breath to reign in my anger, "That would destroy John, whether we left him here for dead or put a bullet in his head right now."

Daryl seemed to mull over my words. After a few seconds of silence that seemed to stretch on forever, Daryl finally spoke,

"What if he turns while were in the truck with him?" He sounded a lot calmer.

"Then we will have no choice, but all I ask is that we at least try to get him back to John," I almost pleaded, "He deserves to at least say goodbye to his son."

I was so concerned with trying to hide the fact that Taylor was infected that the thought of him dying hadn't really sunk in until that moment, I found myself trying to hold back tears. Taylor may have been a jerk most of the time but he didn't deserve to die.

He had saved my ass so many times since this had all started and although I didn't have romantic feelings for him, he was still like family. All my inner turmoil must have been apparent on my face because I saw Daryl's face soften when he looked at me.

"The only way I will agree ta this will be if you drive and I ride shotgun so I can take him out if he turns," Daryl said running his hand through his hair. I cleared my throat and said,

"Alright." We headed back to the truck and I got in the driver's seat and Daryl climbed into the passenger seat, his crossbow at his feet.

"So what's the verdict," Taylor said attempting a smile.

"Were heading back," I said, "All of us." My meaning was clear and Taylor visibly relaxed in his seat.

"It gets any worse and you best tell us right away," Daryl said seriously and Taylor just nodded.

I put the truck in drive and floored it. I didn't care about the extra gas we would burn, I just wanted to make it back to the cabin before Taylor took a turn for the worse. Poor Taylor, poor John, what will happen now? I saw that the others had stopped and were heading towards us. They must have noticed we weren't behind them and came back for us.

"Everything alright?" Rick asked as Daryl and I met him halfway between the parked vehicles.

"Taylor's infected," I said and Rick looked at Daryl, who nodded at my words.

"Did you?..." Rick trailed off. I shook my head,

"Were bringing him back with us, he hasn't turned yet."

"Reina I know this is hard but we can't bring him back," Rick said, with frustration rolling of off him in waves.

"We already agreed I'd keep an eye on him while Reina drove, just in case," Daryl added and I honestly hadn't expected him to be on my side.

"Daryl we can't bring him back to our people, what if he infects others?" Rick almost pleaded and Daryl looked away guiltily.

"I will take responsibility for him and if you shoot Taylor here, John might make you guys leave. We have no idea how he will handle this," I said trying to reason with Rick.

"Rick she's right, we should bring him back for John. If it were Carl you would want a chance to say goodbye," Maggie added and I was glad for her support. Rick stiffened at hers words but reluctantly agreed.

"You keep a close eye on him alright?" Rick said and Daryl nodded in response.

We headed back, speeding far more than we should have. All three of us were tense and silence rained in the truck except for the bouts of coughing from Taylor. Other than that he never complained or anything. I would imagine he must be hurting everywhere as the infection spread.

I had never seen the transformation process before. There was no way of telling how long we had. At that thought I pushed down on the accelerator a bit more and watching the odometer speed up another five miles an hour.

"How are we going to break this to my dad?" Taylor asked.

"We just tell em," Daryl said as if it were the simplest answer in the world. I sent him a pointed look and he frowned.

"It's up to you Taylor. What do you want to do?" I asked looking in the rear-view mirror.

"I dunno…" He said looking out the window as if he would find the answer there, "I didn't think it would hurt so much." Taylors words were punctuated with him wincing as he repositioned himself in the seat.

"There was this guy Jim who was with our group at the beginning," Daryl said, "He got bit and he didn't wanna be put down," I winced at Daryl's words, "But the as we drove to the CDC the pain became too much for him I guess and he asked to be left on the road side."

"What did you guys do?" I asked curious.

"We left him there," Daryl answered.

"Alive?" I prompted.

"Yeah, he wanted it that way."

"Did he say if felt like being poked with needles everywhere at once?" Taylor asked.

"He said it felt like his bones were made of glass, I think," Daryl answered not looking at Taylor when he said the words.

"Taylor did you want some Tylenol or something?" I asked hoping to spare him some of the pain.

"No, just keep drivin," He sighed.

"'Sides he'd just burn through the Tylenol with the fever," Daryl muttered and I really hoped Taylor didn't hear that.

"All the more reason to give him some, might help the fever," I pointed out.

"Well I ain't no doctor so I don't know," Daryl said not in a mean way but more like he was just stating a fact.

We all feel silent again, lost to our own thoughts. I was surprised I was holding myself together as well as I was. Not normally one for tears and hysteria, I usually could handle most things.

But this was different; I was about to lose one of my little adoptive family members, I felt the tightness threaten in my throat. I didn't want to lose anyone, I'm sure no one did. My thoughts drifted back to a memory from a couple of months ago.

* * *

"Reina seriously, help me up!" Taylor hissed at me from his new perch at the bottom of what appeared to be a pitfall or some kind of hole used for trapping animals. I was laughing so hard even though Taylor was yelling for me to help him up.

"It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again," I mocked through my tears of laughter.

"Oh that's real hilarious," He said angrily.

We had been out hunting one morning and we didn't see the mound of suspiciously placed leaves lumped on the ground. As usually Taylor took the lead refusing to let a girl go first and today I was glad for it. He made a leap to see if he could grab hold of the ground around the hole only to end up straight on his ass again. I finally calmed my laughing fit down and set down my gun and bag to help Taylor up.

"Is there any divots you can use or holes in the wall you can put your foot in?" I asked. He squinted and looked around.

"On this side," He pointed to the opposite side of the hole and I ran over, "Give me your hand." He lifted his hand upwards as I leaned down bracing myself to help pull him up.

"Give me the ring first," I joked which sent me back into laughter.

"Dammit Reina!" Taylor yelled frustrated.

I grabbed both his hands with both of mine and lifted using my legs. After a few fails we finally managed to get Taylor out of there. We sat beside each other catching our breath from the exertion and Taylor sent me a glare.

"Oh come on, when would I ever get a chance to say that again?" I laughed and despite his glare, Taylor let out a chuckle.

"Fair enough. The timing _was_ kind of perfect," He grudgingly admitted, "If you ever fall down a hole, I'll have my revenge."

"Please, as if I would be dumb enough to fall in a trap," I said.

"Hey! I was busy looking around for deer not focusing on the ground," Taylor said defensively.

"Sure, sure," I rolled my eyes and grinned. Taylor mumbled something and got up and dusted himself off.

"Hey! You're getting dirt everywhere!" I said jumping up and away from him. He grinned evilly and started to shake it off in my direction on purpose.

"Ass!"

"Revenge is sweet," He said still grinning as he picked up his gun and we headed off again.

* * *

The memory, although hilarious, just caused more pain. We all had been through a lot these last few months and now it was going to get even worse. I peeked at Daryl; he was just staring pensively out the window only stopping to send a glance at back at Taylor.

His group had been through so much and lost so many along the way, I wonder how he handled it. Daryl didn't seem like the type to cry or waste time pitying himself, more like the type that bottled everything up. I wondered if that was the solution in this new cruel world, there certainly were no therapists around to talk to.

**So it's been a while, what did you think of the new chapter? Sad to see Taylor going? Do you think Reina is letting her emotions get in the way and possibly made a few bad choices here? Let me know! More reviews=more motivation to keep writing during our Walking Dead mid-season break! :P**

**PS. How awesome was the mid-season finale?! They better not do anything to Daryl! **


	18. Chapter 17

**I don't own the Walking Dead obviously, but now I own books 1-3 of the graphic novels. Thank you Santa! :P**

Ch. 17

**Page Break means a change in POV to Daryl**

We made it back to the cabin in less time than it took us to get to the mall. Taylor looked much worse than before, his coughing becoming more wet and unnerving sounding. Everyone had rushed to greet us when we rolled up in front of the cabin. I could tell John knew something was up the minute he spotted me behind the wheel but he flashed me a big grin nonetheless. I sent him one back as much as I could manage but all it did was cause John to rush up to the truck even faster than before.

The others were busy being pulled out of the SUV, hugs and slaps on the backs reigning everywhere. I looked at Daryl and for a brief moment I could see a look of almost pity mare his features. He knew there was only one way this could end and bringing Taylor here was only prolonging the inevitable. I took a deep breath and stepped out of the truck. Mac was there first and wrapped me up in a big bear hug.

"Look at all this stuff you brought me, you shouldn't have," Mac grinned.

"Can't…breathe," I choked and he laughed and set me down.

"So how'd it go?" Mac smiled down at me and I opened my mouth to tell but nothing came out.

"Taylor's infected," Daryl said standing beside me and I was glad that I wasn't the one who had to break the news. Mac's face fell at Daryl's words and he looked back to me for conformation. I nodded solemnly and his eyes shifted towards the truck.

"Shit," That was all he said in reply as John approached us.

"Where's Taylor?" Was all John asked and I pointed weakly to the back seat.

John ran to it and threw open the door. I heard his sharp intake of breath when he saw Taylor's condition. Rose now joined our little circle by the truck but she didn't say anything, her mouth in a mulish line as she picked up on John's reaction. John helped Taylor out of the truck, Taylors arm resting over John's shoulder as he walked him towards the cabin.

All the others stopped their celebration to watch in horror and concern as John practically dragged Taylor to the cabin. Their questioning glances all seemed to land on me and I look at the ground, the guilt flaring up again. Daryl bumped my shoulder with his,

"We should get this stuff unpacked." I nodded numbly and got to work.

The repetitive task of unloading the truck and piling the stuff outside helped to keep me composed but all I wanted to do was go check on John and Taylor. Every time I dropped stuff on the ground my eyes wandered back to the cabin.

"Reina we got this covered, why don't you go check on them?" Rick asked. As much as he must have hated the idea of bringing Taylor back with us, he was being very civil about it.

"Thanks," Was all I said as I headed to the cabin door.

* * *

I watched Rick say sumthin to her and her take off towards the cabin. I was about to go and grab her before she went in there but Rick stopped me.

"Daryl just let her be," Rick said with finality which grated on my nerves.

"What if he turns while she's in there huh?" I said with a bit more force than I meant to.

"Reina and John both have guns," Rick pointed out trying to be logical.

"What if he bites one of 'em before they manage to put him down?" I prompted.

"Well you can't just go in there and shoot him, that's why she wanted to bring him back right? Give John a chance to say goodbye?" Rick said.

I deflated at his words; as much as I didn't want Taylor ta have a chance to attack her or anyone I couldn't do anything. I felt helpless at that moment and it pissed me off. Why did she have to be so damn sentimental? Hell, it would have been kinder to just put a bullet in his brain back at the mall. Rick's now visibly pregnant wife came up to us with an angry look on her face.

"What the hell where you thinking bringing an infected person back to camp?" She hissed at Rick.

"It wasn't up to me," Rick sighed, "Reina wanted to bring him back for John."

"Well it wasn't her call to make," Lori went on, "Did you even think about what could happen?"

"Of course I did Lori," Rick said exasperated, "We will keep him under watch until he turns then do what we have to do."

"What if he infects or _eats_ someone else during that time huh?" Lori almost spat, "What if it's Carl?" Rick scowled at his wife,

"Carl is part of the reason I brought him back. If it were Carl who was bit wouldn't you want to say goodbye? Doesn't John deserve the same chance?" Lori opened her mouth to retort but I stepped in,

"Ain't no good arguing bout it now. It's done. We need ta figure out how to contain him so that no one else gets infected."

Rick nodded and gave me a thankful look while Lori just glared.

"From how he looked when John took him to the cabin, I'd say he doesn't have very long," Rick said.

"Should we have one of our group watch over, just in case?" I asked. Reina and John might have a hard time shootin Taylor since they were so close but our group wasn't as involved with him as they were.

"Maybe although I don't think they would appreciate the intrusion," Rick sighed.

"But they would see it's the smart thing ta do," I pointed out.

"Alright let's give them a few more minutes and then we will say something," Rick agreed. I sent one more glance towards the cabin before I got back to unloading the truck.

* * *

John had laid Taylor down on the bed and was proceeding with trying to get him to drink some water. Taylor sputtered a bit but managed to keep a few sips down. I could see the pain on John's face as he watched his son and suddenly the guilt seemed overwhelming. Did I do the right thing in bringing Taylor back? Or did this just make it that much worse for John? If someone else gets infected then it would be all my fault.

Almost as if John could hear my thoughts, he turned to me and sent me a look that I couldn't quite place. Taylor had finally stopped shivering and must have fallen into a brief sleep.

"Thank you for bringin him back. I know the others wouldn't have wanted it," John said in a low voice.

"It seemed like the right thing to do at the time but now I'm not so sure…" I trailed off. John sent me a half smile,

"You gave me a chance to say goodbye at least, that's more than most people get nowadays."

"There you go being all philosophical on me again," I gave a small grin and John did the same.

We sat in silence for a while before the cabin door opened. I got up to go check it out, shutting the bedroom door behind me. I met Daryl and Rick in the living area.

"How is he?" Rick asked.

"Asleep," I answered.

"We don't know how much time he has so we think it's best if one of us stays in here just in case," Rick said calmly.

"Both me and John have guns," I said quietly.

"Yes but it will be hard on you both so I think one of us should be here when he changes," Rick stressed.

"Alright," I said.

As much as I hated to admit it, Rick was right. Both John and I would have a hard time shooting Taylor and may hesitate, living time for him to attack. Also the burden of shooting a son or a close friend would weigh heavily on both of our shoulders. It would be easier for someone who was not as close to Taylor to do it.

"I'll stay with ya first," Daryl said and Rick nodded and left.

"Thanks for sticking up for me," I said, plunking myself down on the sofa. Daryl didn't say anything, he just nodded.

"I guess I understand why ya wanted ta bring him back, doesn't mean I agree with yer choice," He admitted sitting down beside me.

"Fair enough," I replied, "You ever have had to shoot someone you were close with?"

"Not yet," He shrugged. I gave him a look and inched away from him on the couch.

"Real funny," He rolled his eyes and I grinned back weakly at him.

"So how pissed at me is everyone else?" I asked.

"Only really seen Lori and she's always pissed at sumthin ya know," Daryl shrugged.

"Great," I muttered to myself.

The last thing I needed was her getting up in my face right now. I was about to say something else when the bedroom door opened. Both Daryl and I shot to our feet.

"Can you come in here for a second," John asked, "I need ta use the washroom."

"Of course," I answered and we walked in. Taylor was still asleep on the bed when John left the room.

"He still breathing?" Daryl asked and I wasn't sure.

I was about to walk up and check when Daryl grabbed my arm;

"I'll check." He carefully put his fingers on Taylor's neck to check for a pulse.

"Is he?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah just barely though," He answered as he backed away from the bed.

Taylor awoke with a weak intake of breath and started to cough. He sputtered a few times and then lay still, seeming to deflate. I went to the door and yelled for John who came running back. He sat on the bed and check Taylor,

"He's gone."

None of us said anything, I had no idea what to say and we stood there for who knows how long.

"We need to take him outta here," Daryl said in probably the nicest way I have ever heard him speak.

John nodded stiffly and we wrapped Taylor up carefully in the sheet he was resting in.

"Where sound we bury him?" I asked, afraid of how John might react.

"In the back by the gardens," John said referring to the small flower garden that grew back there.

I had never been to a funeral that had a person in a coffin but I imagine this is what it would feel like to be a pallbearer. We carried Taylor's body out to the back area and set to digging. Glenn and Maggie brought extra shovels and helped and soon we had a full grave dug.

"We can't just bury him like that. He will come back," I said, placing a hand on John's shoulder.

"I know," John sighed, "Could you guys give me a minute?"

I nodded and the rest of us went back around to the front to give John time to make peace. After a few minutes of awkward silence with the rest of the group, I flinched at the sound of a single gunshot ringing out.

**So these last two chapters have been really depressing but people die in the zombie apocalypse, so I guess it has to happen sometime. What did you think? Glad to see Taylor go? Glad it didn't come back to bite Reina? (no pun intended :P) **

**I am kind of at a fork right now. Clearly they are going to be vacating the cabin very soon and I was wondering where you think the story should go? Should I write in season three (Which other stories are already doing) or go sort of AU and avoid the prison arc. Or go to the prison and governor arc but not follow the season three to the T? (as in no cut and paste dialogue and plot). **

**All suggestions are welcome so please review and let me know what you think. :)**


	19. Chapter 18

**So to those actually reading this story, I apologize for the long absence. Truthfully I had lost motivation to continue writing this story due to the lack of response but I have decided to try to pick it up again. **

Ch. 18

We had a small funeral for Taylor, Beth's tinkling singing voice rang out quietly as we all stood over his grave. I had fashioned a cross out of an old two-by-four to use as a make shift grave marker and John pounded it into the soft ground with a rubber hammer someone had found. None of us knew what to do. I couldn't offer any words to John that would lessen the burden of losing a son and Mac and Rose were at just as much of a loss for what to do as I was.

We left John to sit by the freshly dug grave and went around to the other side of the cabin. Lori and Rick were arguing in hushed voices again while everyone else was a flurry of activity in the camp.

"What's going on?" I asked Daryl as he was loading up some supplies into a vehicle.

"We were thinkin that it's best we get movin before a horde of walkers come round," Daryl said, "You should go inside and pack what you want ta bring."

"I agree we need to leave but right this second seems a bit much doesn't it?" I asked catching up to his fast stride as he walked back to his tent, "I mean we did just bury Taylor."

Daryl stopped at the mention of Taylor and turned to me.

"That's exactly why we need ta get moving. That shot could be heard for miles and we might have lead some walkers from the mall back to us," Daryl said exasperated.

"Ok say that is true, we have at least have one day," I pleaded knowing the last thing John would want to do right after we buried his son would be to run.

"Ain't no use talkin bout it, were leavin," Daryl said with a finality to his voice.

He ducked back into his tent and I stomped back to the cabin. Rose and Mac were both sitting in the living area with a solemn look in their eyes.

"Can you believe them?" I vented angrily.

"Well they ain't wrong," Rose shrugged.

"We _just_ had a funeral for Taylor, how can you say that?" I asked glaring at her.

"Well we all knew we would be leaving when you got back from your supply run," Mac said in a calm voice.

"Yeah but that was before everything happened," I said sitting down on the couch beside him.

Rose patted my knee gently,

"It's not like we're happy bout it but we gotta start moving away from here."

Rose was right but I still had a hard time with how seemingly callous everyone was being, as if Taylor's death was just another day at the office. I knew we had to leave, that was the plan all along but shouldn't the death of someone be treated like normal? Being up here in the cabin this whole time was just another reminder of how much we were fooling ourselves into feeling safe. No place was safe which made me even more depressed.

Where the hell would we go now? Just forever on the run sounded very unappealing. There had to be somewhere that was safe, that we could make safe. With a sigh, I stood back up and headed to my room to start the process of packing. After what seemed like hours I had managed to stuff my suitcase and duffle full of everything I could find. I was sitting on my suitcase trying to zip it up when Mac came into the room.

"Need some help?" He offered and I nodded.

Together we were able to close the overstuffed bag and only caught his finger in the zipper once. He stuck his sore finger in his mouth and I started to laugh and couldn't seem to stop. Mac stared at me with a smirk on his face as I rolled around on the ground clutching my side.

"You feel better now?" He grinned.

"I think so," I said wiping a tear from my eye.

"Wish I could laugh at random things like you do," Mac shook his head.

"Hey, it's a bad habit that I'm trying to break," I grinned.

"And I can see it's going well for you," He grinned back.

Rose burst into the room looking confused.

"What's with all the giggling?"

"Reina's a lunatic, that's all," Mac smirked and I swatted his arm.

"Well we all knew that," Rose said rolled her eyes.

Ignoring their ribbing, I looked over to the corner of the room and just now noticed the pile of bags.

"You packed already?" I asked.

"Yeah, John said it was best we git a head start before ya'll got back," Rose shrugged, "Everyone is outside, guess were havin a meetin or sumthin."

Mac and I got up and followed her outside to the waiting group of people. I noticed John was among them and I walked over to him. He nodded at me as I approached and I took that to mean he was doing better than I thought he would be.

"Now that we are all here, we should make some sort of plan of action," Rick started, "Anyone have any ideas? Please don't hesitate to speak up."

"I vote we go to the coast," Glenn said and Maggie nodded in agreement.

Clearly they must have talked this over before and decided that would be best. From the look on the others faces, I guessed that the idea was not shared among the rest of them.

"What's on the coast that would make it a good place to go?" Carol asked.

"Think about it. We would have an ocean to one side of us. Hell maybe we could find a boat and get to an island," Glenn reasoned.

"I think I like where this is going," T-Dog grinned.

"I think we should go north," Mac added, "I don't think those things will survive the cold winter."

"Yeah but that also means we have ta too," Daryl pointed out.

At that everyone started to shout out ideas and talk over one another just to get their two-sense in. This was going nowhere and Rick started to look like he was getting pissed.

"Everyone quiet!" Rick finally yelled causing an awkward silence to fall over everyone.

"Why don't we keep along the interstate and see what we can find?" Dale asked, "Picking one place randomly won't do anything but send us on a wild goose chase."

"So what then? We just wander around until we run out of gas and get stranded somewhere?" Lori interjected, being oh so helpful yet again.

"We might find something, you never know," Dale said reasonably.

"What about that new prison they just built off of the interstate?" John spoke up.

All eyes flashed to him and to his credit, John didn't bat an eye at the focused attention. The last place I ever wanted to go was prison but ironically that seemed like the optimal choice at the moment. It already had fences and fortifications in place; all we had to do theoretically was get inside. But if our luck held true, most likely it would not be as simple as that. Rick appeared to mull over the idea before he spoke,

"I think that's the best shot we have right now. It's already secured; they will have plenty of guns and ammo and maybe even supplies."

"What about all the prisoners inside?" Maggie asked.

"If they aren't already dead from the infection, we can set them free," Rick said.

"What if they don't want to leave?" I finally asked.

"Then we will make em," Daryl nodded as if this was the obvious answer.

I didn't like the sound of that. Killing undead was one thing but killing a bunch of locked up people was a whole other thing completely.

"You know how to get there?" Rick asked John.

"I've never been there before but I think I can get us there," John replied, "You have a map?"

Carl handed Rick the map and he sprawled it out on the picnic table.

"This is where it is roughly," John stabbed the map with his finger.

"Looks like it'll be a couple days drive, assuming there will be cars all over the interstate and nothing completely blocking us," Rick said, his eyes glued to the map.

"I still think the coast would be better," Glenn sighed.

"We can debate this later but for right now, the prison is probably the safest location that we can actually get to," Rick said.

Grudgingly Glenn agreed and we all split back up to finish packing up the supplies. I looked up at the solar panels attached to the roof of the cabin, wishing we could take them with us.

"We can always come back for them," John said, suddenly right beside me.

I wanted to ask if he was ok but that was a stupid question to ask.

"Do you know how to set them up?" I asked and John's mouth quirked a bit,

"Darlin, who do ya think put them up there in the first place?"

"Fair enough," I smiled.

"Ya'll ridin in yer truck?" Daryl asked as he approached us.

"I guess so," I shrugged, "You taking that loud beast you call a motorcycle?"

Daryl smirked at my comment, "Ya bet yer ass I am."

"What about the rest of your group?" John asked.

"Taking the SUV and the rest are pillin into the RV I think," Daryl guessed.

That would be a crowded ride, I was glad we had our own truck to take.

"Guess I'll finish my packing," John said, walking slowly towards the cabin.

"So what do you think of this whole prison idea?" I asked turning to face Daryl.

"Best idea we got," Was all he offered.

"So you have no problem with sleeping in tiny cells? Been in one before I take it," I joked and Daryl narrowed his eyes at me.

"Ya realize I can lock yer ass in one of those cells right?" He smirked back.

"Pfft," I said, "I'd like to see you try."

Daryl was about to give his retort when Mac started to yell something from across the camp. In a flurry everyone grabbed anything near them that could be used as a weapon and made it over to where he was. I spotted a group of infected just on the tree line of the west side of the property.

"Shit," Daryl hissed, raising his crossbow.

"That's no use from here," I said, "We need a gun."

I had my Beretta holstered on my side and I instinctively reached for it only to find the holder empty. I cursed silently as I remembered that it was sitting on my bed from when I packed earlier. Starting to run back to the cabin and I heard Daryl and Mac yelling at me to come back. Without my gun I was useless so I ignored them and kept running only to realize that other infected had crept into the camp.

Carl was aiming and shooting with his pistol while Lori and Carol were standing right beside him terrified. I grabbed the axe that was perched up against the side of the cabin and swung it at the head of the nearest infected. With a splatter of blood and skin, the thing dropped to the ground and I wrenched the axe from its head with a wet, sucking sound. I then used the blunt side of the axe to smash in the face of the next infected and it went flying down. I couldn't afford to have the blade get stuck in the skull of a walker while surrounded.

Rick's Python glinted in the light and blasted loudly as he picked off a few of the walkers in camp. An arrow whizzed by my head, impaling itself in the brain of a walker that stood only a few feet from me.

"Ya'll need ta pay more attention," Daryl growled at me, placing his foot on the walkers head as he removed the arrow.

The distinct sound of a hunting rifle sounded and one infected was thrown backwards, its feet lifting off the ground at the impact. I looked around to find Dale perched on top of his RV with the rifle scope at his eye. He waved me on and with Daryl right beside me we made our way to the cabin.

"Stay close," Daryl whispered harshly as he took out his knife and stabbed a walker in the skull.

I wound up the axe like I was up for bat and aimed at the next one's head. The impact caused it's forehead to cave in and the infected toppled over away from us. My shoulder was starting to ache from the hard swings so I picked up the pace towards the cabin. I threw open the door and Daryl slammed it shut behind me as I ran straight to my room grabbing the pistol sitting on my bed. I ejected the clip to see it was full and grabbed my other pistol ramming it into my holster.

"We need ta get the others in here," Daryl said as I re-emerged from the room.

I nodded and we burst back through the door causing the walkers that were pressed up against it to go flying. Daryl brought his crossbow down on one's head while I shot the other one that was scrambling to get up.

"In here!" I yelled over the fray.

John had joined Mac who was trying to take out a small group of the undead. I ran up to them and handed the bloodied axe to Mac and he dropped the log he had been using as a club. John was shooting as many as he could and I took aim at the ones surrounding the RV. After we started to make a dent in the attacking walkers, the unarmed people made a run for the cabin. Carl wanted to stay and help but Rick yelled at him to get the others inside.

The walkers now focused on getting to the cabin to follow the group that had run to it. Luckily this made them an easier target as they weren't spread out all over the camp with possible people getting caught in the fray. Soon there was a pile of bodies all over the camp and the constant sound of gunfire had ceased. I could only hear the ringing in my ears.

"You ok?" The muffled voice of Daryl sounded beside me.

I nodded not trusting my voice at the moment. Rick ran up to the cabin as Carl peeked his head out. That kid never listened. He gave Carl a quick hug and then did the same to Lori. It appeared everyone was ok, just shaken up from the attack.

"T-Dog, Dale you take watch," Rick dictated, "We leave at first light."

**So I don't know when I will be updating again, maybe if you leave some feedback I'll be more motivated ;). I had one person suggest making my own plot while another said to go with the prison arc, honestly I'm not sure what to do.**

**I've read enough stories that have already done the whole prison thing and it gets tiring reading the same thing over and over again so I admit I am leaning towards creating my own arc or using some stuff from the graphic novels. **

**What do you think? I'd love to hear from you, you know I appreciate it!**


	20. Chapter 19

Ch. 19

That night I don't think anyone caught any sleep, still all worked up from the attack. I was tossing and turning yet again when Rose spoke up,

"Tomorrows gunna be a long day, try and get some sleep will ya?"

"Easier said than done," I muttered and Rose let out a heavy sigh.

Finally morning rolled around and needless to say, I didn't feel very well rested. John, Mac, Rose and I were taking John's truck while the others split up into their SUV, old Cherokee and RV while Daryl insisted on taking his loud, Sons of Anarchy bike. Everyone was packing up what we could fit into the vehicles. My overstuffed suitcase was thrown in the back of John's truck along with everyone else's bags and the extra canisters of gas. I was throwing in the last of our stuff when Daryl walked up to me, not making a sound as always.

"Ya need some help?" He offered.

"Yeah, can you grab the other end of this bungee cord and help me attach it?" I asked.

He walked around to the other side of the cab and grabbed the metal hook on that end of the cord and together we stretched it into place.

"Rick wants everyone over by the picnic table when yer done packing," Daryl said.

"Does he have a route picked out?" I asked.

"Think so," Daryl shrugged.

I sighed and leaned against the truck,

"So what exactly is the plan?"

"Dunno," Daryl said, "Keep searching for a safe place I guess."

"What's a safe place?" I asked, "We all thought this cabin was safe and look what happened."

"Same that happened to the farm," Daryl answered, "We need some place we can fortify."

"Like the prison," I said remembering John's idea.

"I'm not too keen on that but it'll work unless it's overrun by walkers," Daryl said.

"You ever been to prison?" I cracked a small grin.

"Ya still on that?" Daryl growled.

"You just seem so against it," I chuckled.

Daryl shook his head, "Naw, I've never been to prison."

"It's kind of ironic," I said, "Non-felons breaking into a prison for safety."

Before Daryl could answer Ricked called everyone over to discuss, well more like dictate, the plan. Daryl and I stood on the peripheral of the group when caught up with them and Rick was already talking.

"Were gunna head down the interstate as far as we can with the SUV in front followed by Carol's Cherokee then John's truck and lastly the RV," Rick spelled out.

"What happens if the road is blocked?" Dale asked.

"Glenn is our navigator, he will be making sure there are others roads to detour onto if that happens," Rick said and Glenn nodded.

"Do we have enough gas?" Lori asked.

"All the vehicles are full and we have some extra canisters in case we need to fill up," Rick answered.

With all our giant vehicles, the SUV being the only one even remotely good on gas, I wondered just how far we would get on the gas we had. Maybe we would luck out and find another gas station we could syphon gas from. What if we ran into another herd? What if we got split up? There was no way of contacting each other if that ever happened since cell phones were now a thing of the past. All these questions were starting to pop into my head and I hadn't even realized that the 'meeting' was over until everyone started to walk away.

"You sure zone out a lot," Daryl said, nudging me with his elbow.

"Just thinking of all the things that could go wrong," I sighed.

"Probably not the best time for that," He said.

"Gee thanks for the advice," I smirked and he narrowed his eyes, "So you still intent on taking that loud beast you call a motorcycle?"

"It ain't a loud beast," He growled.

"It sounds like someone kicked the muffler off of an old Chevy," I said and Daryl grinned in spite of himself.

"Naw, it ain't that bad," He said back.

"Clearly, your hearing has suffered as a result of riding it all the time," I grinned.

"Ya can ride with me and find out for yerself," Daryl offered.

"You know what my legal professor used to call people who rode motorcycles? Organ donors," I replied.

"Was that a yes or no woman?" Daryl asked impatiently.

"That was a thanks but I'm going to ride in the quiet and warm truck," I said.

Daryl shook his head and sighed, "Man yer a city girl."

"Hey! No need for name calling hillbilly," I smirked.

"You still taking that motorcycle?" Rick asked as he walked up to us.

I turned and smirked at Daryl and he narrowed his eyes.

"What the hell people? It ain't that bad, plus I ain't leaving it," Daryl almost growled.

Rick didn't say anything to that just nodded.

"Here," Rick handed me a folded piece of paper.

I unfolded it and took a look. It was another map of the area.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"We have a few maps besides the main one so were making sure every car has one just in case we get separated," Rick explained.

"What's the red circle for?" I pointed to the scribble.

"That is where we will be meeting if we get split up. If that happens, wait there until we all arrive," Rick answered.

"Sounds like a plan," I said, tucking the map away into my shoulder bag.

"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that," Rick said and we all dispersed to finish any last minute packing.

I walked over to the truck where John and Rose were already waiting.

"Here," I handed the map to John since he was our driver, "Red spot is where we will meet up if we get split up."

"Rick's thought of everything," John muttered as he scanned the map.

"Where's Mac?" I asked.

"Still in the cabin decidin' what to bring," Rose rolled her eyes.

I laughed and headed for the cabin. I swear he was worse than I was for packing.

"Jesus, you done yet?" I sighed as I spotted him on the floor surrounded by his stuff.

"I want to bring everything, but it won't fit," Mac whined.

"Do you really think we need the DVD copy of Rush Hour 2?" I asked holding up the case.

"You never know," Mac said taking it back, "We may actually find a DVD player and a TV."

"Besides, that movie was terrible," I said plunking down beside him.

"Do you not understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" Mac said in his terrible Chris Tucker impression.

"Wow, I really thought you were Chris Tucker there for a second," I said sarcastically.

"Yer so kind," He said in a southern accent.

Together we managed to pack up his stuff but I insisted he leave the kids ant farm behind. Throwing his bags into the truck, I now noticed John was missing.

"Where's John?" I asked exasperated to Rose. This was starting to feel like one of those long and annoying family road trips you were subjected to as a kid.

"Sayin goodbye ta Taylor," Rose said.

Great, now I felt like an ass. Everyone else was throwing their bags into their vehicles and it looked like we were almost ready to leave. I squinted against the light to look at the cabin. After living here for over three months, the small place had started to feel like home and the apprehension was starting to grip me as I stared at the cabin for the last time. We were leaving in search of some 'safe' place that may not even exist. I was never a fan of the unknown, generally liking to have things planned out. Go to school, get a good job, get married and so on. Making plans were a thing of the past now since the future was so uncertain.

And not to mention Taylor was buried here. I guess we will probably come back one day to come grab the rest of the bigger items like the meat smoker and solar panels. Who knows, maybe in a few years the infected will be wiped out and society could rebuild. John reappeared from behind the cabin and hammered a couple of boards to the front door. We had boarded up the windows previously so that the door was the only thing left.

He tossed his hammer in the back of the truck and hoped into the driver's seat. Rose had claimed the passenger's seat as her own since she could navigate. Last time I tried, John had to point out that I was holding the map upside down. I guess we weren't going to follow Rick's vehicle plan exactly since our truck was located behind everyone else. Rick honked the SUV's horn and everyone started up their engines, Daryl's motorcycle roaring above all the noise which made me grin.

Daryl looked back at me and nodded and I waved back. Then we were off as soon as I hoped into the back seat with Mac. I watched the cabin fade in the background and soon all I could see was the dense forest.

"Are we there yet?" Mac grinned. Rose turned and glared at him while John shook his head in the front seat and I just grinned out the window.

"Ya ask that again and ya'll will be walkin," Rose said as she turned to face the front again.

Soon staring into the abyss got boring and Mac and I decided to play some cards. I was winning our 7th game of go fish when the truck started to slow down.

"Holy shit," Rose muttered and John pressed his lips in a thin line.

I looked out the windshield to see why we had slowed down; the convoy ahead of us had slowed down as well. In front of the SUV was a herd of walkers unlike I had ever seen in size before. They must have all been following the interstate and picking up stragglers as they went. We all shared a glance.

"What do we do?" Mac asked.

Rose was scanning the map, her eyes darting all over the paper.

"We need ta back up," Rose said to John, "There was a dirt road or sumthin back a mile or so."

"Can't we just turn off the engine and stay quiet and see if they just pass us by?" Mac suggested.

"Ya really want ta take that chance?" Rose said back.

"I really don't think this is the time for arguing," I said quietly.

John grabbed the gear shift and put the truck into reverse and did as much of a three point turn as he could with the big truck. I looked at the other vehicles to see that the SUV has tried to get around the herd by using the ditch with the Cherokee close behind. The RV that was ahead of us looked like they were trying to reverse too and Daryl was nowhere to be seen. Once John got us facing the opposite way, he stomped the gas and we were sent barreling down the road. Rose pointed out the turn off and I looked back to see if the RV had followed but it was just empty road I saw. The side road was paved and according to the map, it connected to another road which would lead us back to the interstate.

"Actually this road will almost take us to the prison," Rose said in shock as she checked the map.

"But Rick said to go to the meeting place if we got split up," I pointed out.

"Yeah but if we can get to the prison, that would be even better," John said.

"But what of they go to the meeting place and wait for us?" I reasoned.

"We can't get there, we would have to go through that horde," Mac said.

"We can't just leave them!" I said, worry etched into my voice.

"I bet ya they will be goin straight to the prison too," Rose said.

"How far is the prison from where we are?" Mac asked.

"Dunno but judgin from the map, bout a day or two's drive," Rose said, "If we don't get caught up in sumthin else that is."

"What's that?" I pointed to a mark on the map.

"It looks like a town," Mac said.

"Whatever it is we have ta pass it ta get to the prison and that river too," Rose said, her finger scanning the route.

"It is a town," John said, "Been there once before. I think it's called Woodbury."

**_A/N:_**** Duh-duh-duhhhh! So to the people who are reading this story, I apologize for the long break. I have a bunch of excuses but I won't bore you with them :P**

**Now about the story. I am not sure if I am going to end the story here and possibly do a sequel in the future OR continue on with this one (but there will be a long break while I decide what to do). Obviously they are split up but I don't know how I want to make them find each other again.**

**Should the others go to the prison while Reina and Co. go to Woodbury, then meet up in the battle? Or will they meet up before hand? Or make up my own plot? Any ideas and suggestions are welcome!**

**So thanks again for taking the time to read my story and if you are a fan of original zombie stories, maybe give my FictionPress story a look-see :) (it's under the same username).**


End file.
